Google’s $500M compliance overhaul may fall short, amid antitrust fallout

Google parent Alphabet has struck a new agreement with shareholders, settling a shareholder lawsuit with a promise to ”completely revamp and rebuild its global compliance structure,” according to a new legal filing. The investment may not go far enough to reform Alphabet’s compliance failings, which are particularly under scrutiny following two antitrust rulings in two different cases against the company over the past year.

As part of the settlement, Alphabet said it would spend $500 million over 10 years to reform its compliance structure, according to the documents filed on May 30. The legal filing, reported earlier by Bloomberg Law, also revealed that Alphabet will form a committee within its Board of Directors to handle regulatory oversight matters. Previously, Alphabet’s regulatory oversight had been overseen by the board’s Audit and Compliance Committee. 

Along with the new earmarked investment and Board-level committee, the tech giant agreed to create a committee among its senior VPs to also oversee regulatory and compliance issues across the company. The tech giant also agreed to create a committee among its senior VPs to also oversee regulatory and compliance issues across the company. The VP committee will report to CEO, Sundar Pichai, along with an executive-level compliance committee made up of managers and internal compliance experts.