GLENCORE has been found by the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) to be criminally liable for failing to prevent the bribery of an official in the Congo by a business partner.
The miner, which is headquartered in Switzerland, said in an announcement today that while it “did not admit” the findings of the OAG, it would not appeal the ruling which also imposed a CHF2m sentence as well as a $150m compensation claim.
“Glencore is pleased to have resolved these investigations relating to past matters that occurred over 13 years ago,” said Glencore chairman, Kalidas Madhavpeddi. “This resolves the last of the previously disclosed government investigations into historical misconduct.”
The OAG stated in the summary penalty order that it did not identify that any Glencore employees had any knowledge of the bribery by the business partner, nor did Glencore benefit financially from the conduct of the business partner.
Glencore has been ordered to pay about $1.7bn in penalties and fines by anti-graft and regulatory authorities in the UK, US and Brazil among others for corrupt practices at its businesses in Africa and South America. Investigations into the group, which relate to events dating from about 2011, have been underway since about 2019.
Glencore said today an investigation by the Dutch Prosecution Service, running in parallel to the OAG investigation, had also been concluded. The Dutch Prosecution Service case was dismissed following the resolution of the Swiss investigation.
In its summary penalty order, the OAG today found Glencore International AG (GIAG) “criminally liable” for failing to take necessary and reasonable organisational measures to prevent the bribery of a Congolese public official by a business partner in 2011.
This was in connection with the acquisition from the state-owned mining company by that business partner of minority stakes in two mining companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since taking over from Ivan Glasenberg as CEO of Glencore in 2021, Gary Nagle has tightened the group’s ethics practices, its Ethics and Compliance Programme, and fallen in line with regulatory recommendations for independent legal monitors at the business.
“We have dedicated substantial effort and resources to enable constructive engagement with the monitors and their teams,” said Madhavpeddi.
“We have commenced implementation of their recommendations arising from their first report and look forward to continuing to work with them over the balance of their three-year term to continuously improve our Programme,” he said.
Glencore is due to report its interim numbers on Wednesday (August 7). But corruption issues are likely to be sidelined by a decision on the outcome of discussions Glencore has had with shareholders on whether to spin out its coal production.
