lencore pleads guilty to bribery related to African oil operations

Last month, Glencore said it would pay a $1.1bn (£900m) US settlement, and indicated it would plead guilty in the UK.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jun/21/glencore-african-oil-operations

Bribery Scandal To Cost Glencore $1.1 Billion, While Billionaire Execs Avoid Blame—For Now

May 26, 2022, 11:44am

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2022/05/26/bribery-scandal-to-cost-glencore-11b—billionaire-execs-avoid-blame-for-now/

Glencore Entered Guilty Pleas to Foreign Bribery and Market Manipulation Schemes

Swiss-Based Firm Agrees to Pay Over $1.1 Billion

Glencore International A.G. (Glencore) and Glencore Ltd., both part of a multi-national commodity trading and mining firm headquartered in Switzerland, each pleaded guilty today and agreed to pay over $1.1 billion to resolve the government’s investigations into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and a commodity price manipulation scheme.

These guilty pleas are part of coordinated resolutions with criminal and civil authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.

May 24, 2022

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/glencore-entered-guilty-pleas-foreign-bribery-and-market-manipulation-schemes

Head of Glencore’s agriculture business to retire after 17 years

May 23 2019

https://www.ft.com/content/5cafe4c4-7d78-11e9-81d2-f785092ab560

A secretive multinational company worth billions, whose founder turned fugitive was pardoned by a president.

An Israeli diamond tycoon, rumoured to be the inspiration for a Hollywood blockbuster.

And a struggling African nation, blessed and burdened by natural resources, riven by war and corruption.

Behind the black letters of the Paradise Papers lies a world of extraordinary colour.

the unique ability of companies linked to Gertler to win cut-price mining licences and agreements in DRC cost the country more than $[1.3]bn, almost twice the nation’s combined health and education budgets, in [one] [three]-year period alone

But the Paradise Papers cast new light on background dealings between Gertler and Glencore that appear to have saved them hundreds of millions of dollars – money lost to DRC and its people.

The papers reveal some of the complexity of Glencore’s global operations and the breadth of its reach. Glencore is the largest commodity trader in the world and the biggest supplier of zinc and cobalt. The fruits of its products are used every day by millions, including anyone who drives a car or makes a call on a smartphone.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/05/the-inside-story-of-glencore-hidden-dealings-in-drc

it's important to understand what trouble at Glencore means because of the huge size of the company's debt pile, banks' exposure to it and its role in the world economy as a producer and trader of more than 90 commodities.

So here's an explainer of Glencore's mess is and how it got there.

The story starts with Belgian-born commodities billionaire Marc Rich, who, in 1974, circumvented the Arab oil embargo to buy oil from Iran and Iraq for $12 a barrel and sell it for a huge profit to US companies.

In 1983, Marc Rich was indicted in the U.S. by then-U.S. prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani for multiple criminal activities including tax-evasion, racketeering and embargo breaches.

In 1993, Rich lost $172 million and control of his firm in a failed attempt to dominate the market for zinc. After a management buy-out, Marc Rich + Co AG was reborn as Glencore in 1994. Willy Strothotte became CEO.

In 2001, Marc Rich was controversially pardoned by Bill Clinton on his last day as US president. It later emerged that Denise Rich, Marc Rich's wife, made a $1 million donation to the Democrat party.

In 2013, Glencore completed its merger with mining company Xstrata. The deal, which took 450 days, created a company with 190,000 employees in 50 countries and more ships than the British navy. Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg took the helm of the new firm.

Marc Rich died in the same year.

Oct 7, 2015

https://www.businessinsider.com/glencores-history-and-what-happened-to-the-company-2015-10