Wal-Mart's U.S. administrative chief to step down: WSJ

Wal-Mart Stores Inc's U.S. Chief Administrative Officer Tom Mars will step down in March after more than a decade with the company, in which he also served as general counsel, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to provide a reason for his departure and Mars could not immediately be reached for comment, the paper said. He will leave the company on March 13, it added.

As the retailer's general counsel from 2002 to 2009, Mars was involved in an investigation into bribery allegations regarding a Wal-Mart store built near the Mexican pyramids, according to company e-mails released earlier this year by members of Congress, the Journal said. (http://link.reuters.com/buv36t)

Separately, U.S. shopping center operator Kimco Realty Corp said it had received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission over an investigation involving Wal-Mart Stores and possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Wal-Mart could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Stephen Coates)