Walmart hires two global compliance execs

Walmart announced the addition of two executives in its global governance and compliance department who will support the retailer’s financial business as one global team.

Emma Waddell will join Walmart as vice president of financial services compliance on Sept. 16. She most recently was chief compliance officer at SunTrust Bank. Joe Rodriguez has joined Walmart as lead counsel of financial services. He most recently served as vice president of compliance at Capital One.

Walmart executives Daniel Trujillo, global chief ethics & compliance officer, and general counsel Karen Roberts made the announcement Thursday (Aug. 22).

Walmart said Waddell will provide support and guidance to the financial services compliance leaders across all operating markets, including Walmart U.S., e-commerce and the compliance teams in international markets. She has more than 20 years of experience across compliance, business, technology and operations.

Prior to SunTrust, Waddell worked at JPMorgan Chase Bank for more than 12 years, as well as in several consulting positions. Waddell earned a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.

She will report to Chris Cyrenne, senior vice president of global regulatory compliance, and will relocate to Bentonville with her family.

Rodriguez recently relocated his family to Bentonville from Plano, Texas. Before working at Capital One, Rodriguez was a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. He also served as senior counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rodriguez earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he was the editor of the Harvard Latino Law Review. He received his bachelor’s degree at the College of New Jersey. He reports to Karen Roberts until Walmart appoints a new vice president of regulatory

The two new hires come on the heels of Walmart settling its long-running Foreign Corrupt Practices Act probe, and a slight restructuring of the compliance department.

“As Walmart transforms through innovation and investment to save customers time and money, we are continually adapting our organization to ensure we have the right talent and structure in place. I am confident that Emma and Joe’s extensive backgrounds and expertise in financial services will allow us to best support the business in this area,” said Rachel Brand, executive vice president of global governance, chief legal officer and corporate secretary.