Glencore Company Overview and Controversies

Glencore is a multinational commodity trading and mining company that was founded in 1974 by two Swiss entrepreneurs, Marc Rich and Paddy Hendry. It's headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

The company's name is a combination of the founders' names, Marc Rich and Peter "Paddy" Rich's father, Glencore. Glencore has grown significantly over the years, with a presence in over 50 countries and a diverse portfolio of commodities.

Glencore is one of the world's largest commodity traders, with a significant presence in the global market for metals, minerals, and energy products.

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Glencore's history is marked by significant events that have shaped the company's trajectory. In 2025, the company announced its plans to transfer its main listing from London to New York.

This move was likely a strategic decision aimed at expanding the company's reach and access to new markets. In 2024, the company received approval from Bangladesh to operate as a spot liquefied natural gas supplier, a move that aimed to enhance market competition and reduce costs.

Glencore also made headlines in 2024 with the announcement of a contract to sell Bolivian Mining assets to SantaCruz Silver Mining Ltd for US$80 million in October. The company's expansion efforts were likely driven by a desire to diversify its operations and increase revenue streams.

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The company was founded in 1974 as Marc Rich & Co. AG by commodity traders Marc Rich and Pincus Green.

Marc Rich & Co. AG was founded by Marc Rich and Pincus Green, a duo of commodity traders with a vision for the future.

In 1993, a number of Marc Rich employees, led by Claude Dauphin, left to set up another trading company, Trafigura.

Trafigura was established by a group of Marc Rich employees, including Claude Dauphin, who had a strong understanding of the industry.

Marc Rich was forced to sell his majority share in the company to Glencore International in 1994 after failing to take control of the zinc market.

This failure resulted in significant financial losses, with Marc Rich's company losing $172 million.

In May 2011, Glencore went public in a dual listing in London and Hong Kong valued at about $US60 billion.

This massive initial public offering (IPO) was a significant milestone for the company, revealing invaluable information about its private operations that had remained discreet for thirty-seven years.

Glencore raised gross proceeds of around $10 billion through the IPO.

The 1,637-page document accompanying the IPO revealed the company's shareholding structure, showing that Ivan Glasenberg's shareholding was diluted from 18.1% to 15.8%.

The IPO also diluted the shareholding of Daniel Mate and Telis Mistakidis, the zinc, copper, and lead co-directors, from 6.9% to 6%.

Aabar Investments, a unit of Abu Dhabi's state-owned United Arab Emirates International Petroleum Investment Company, confirmed an investment of $850 million in Glencore International plc as a cornerstone investor.

This investment made Aabar the largest cornerstone investor in the IPO and gave Aabar a 1.4% stake in the company.

However, in November 2012, Aabar Investments wrote off more than $392-million of its $1-billion investment into Glencore's IPO, less than two years after investing it.

In 2011, Glencore was a large shareholder in globalCOAL, an online physical coal trading platform. This platform allowed for the trading of coal among major producers and power utilities.

Glencore also had significant relationships with other mining companies, including Century Aluminum Co. in the US, in which they held a 44% economic ownership interest.

Minara Resources Ltd, a partial subsidiary of Glencore, held a 70.5% stake in one of Australia's top three nickel producers.

United Company Rusal, a Russian aluminium giant, was another company with which Glencore had a significant relationship, holding an 8.8% stake in the company.

Glencore has faced multiple investigations and charges related to bribery and corruption. The company's UK subsidiary pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery, with fines predicted not to exceed $1.5 billion.

In 2022, Glencore pleaded guilty to multiple counts of bribery and agreed to pay penalties of about $1.5 billion. The company's executives acknowledged "unacceptable practices" and "misconduct identified in these investigations".

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) found that over $28 million in bribes were paid for officials to "perform their functions improperly". Glencore predicted that fines would not exceed the $1.5 billion it had previously set aside.

A London court ordered Glencore Energy UK Ltd. to pay almost £281 million in 2022. The SFO informed that this was the highest sum ever paid for a corporate criminal conviction.

In 2011, five non-government organisations filed a complaint to the OECD against a subsidiary of Glencore over allegations of tax evasion in Zambia.

The complaint alleged that Glencore's subsidiary, Mopani Copper Mines Plc (MCM), was performing financial and accounting manipulations to avoid paying enough tax on its profits.

A draft Grant Thornton report suggested that tax avoidance by Glencore in Zambia cost the Zambian Government hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Glencore and its auditor, Deloitte, rejected these allegations.

Glencore's payments to Zambia's government increased by 2013, following the allegations.

In Ecuador, the government tried to reduce the role of middlemen like Glencore with state oil company Petroecuador due to concerns about transparency and follow-through.

Fernando Villavicencio, a Quito-based oil sector analyst, wrote about these concerns in 2011.

The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission investigation into Glencore was a significant development in 2019.

In April 2019, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission notified Glencore of an investigation into potential Commodity Exchange Act violations.

Glencore's corrupt practices spanned over a decade, from 2007 to 2018.

The company agreed to pay a massive $1.8 billion fine in May 2022, after pleading guilty to charges of corrupt dealings with foreign governments.

Glencore's corrupt practices involved making and concealing corrupt payments and bribes through intermediaries for the benefit of foreign officials across multiple countries.

Glencore's UK subsidiary pleaded guilty to corruption charges in 2022. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) accused Glencore of paying over US$53 million in bribes to officials in Africa between 2011 and 2016.

The bribes were allegedly paid to secure access to oil and make illicit profit. Glencore executives acknowledged the "unacceptable practices" and "misconduct identified in these investigations".

The SFO found that over US$25 million in bribes were paid in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and South Sudan between 2011 and 2016. The bribes were allegedly paid for preferential access to oil.

Glencore predicted that fines for the seven corruption charges would not exceed US$1.5 billion, which is the amount it set aside in 2021 for resolving the investigations. The company has been making efforts to improve its ethics and compliance program since before it knew of the US DOJ investigation.

Glencore's UK subsidiary pleaded guilty to seven more counts of bribery on June 21. The SFO found that over US$28 million in bribes were paid for officials to "perform their functions improperly".

These bribes were paid for oil operations in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, and South Sudan between 2012 and 2016. Glencore again predicted that fines would not exceed the US$1.5 billion it had previously set aside.

Glencore faces continued investigations from the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service.

For your interest: Glencore Fines

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In 2011, employees of Glencore Energy UK Ltd. in London traveled to South Sudan on a private jet, carrying briefcases of cash to pay bribes and secure lucrative business deals.

The money, totaling $1.075 million, was withdrawn from Glencore's Swiss headquarters and recorded as expenses for "opening the office in South Sudan".

Glencore's annual and sustainability reports for 2011 and 2012 made no mention of South Sudan or the opening of a local office.

The company's 2011 Annual Report did state that there was a high risk of being prosecuted for bribery and other potential breaches of the law, but it also claimed to be committed to complying with laws and regulations.

In 2019, the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced an investigation into Glencore and its associates for bribery, covering South Sudan and other countries.

A London court ordered Glencore Energy UK Ltd. to pay almost £281 million in 2022, after the SFO uncovered a trail of text messages, large cash withdrawals, and concealed payments that showed Glencore paid bribes worth $29 million to secure oil access in several countries.

This case marked the highest sum ever paid for a corporate criminal conviction in the UK, and the first time a company was convicted for actively authorizing bribery, rather than failing to prevent it.

Glencore has a significant presence in various countries through its subsidiaries and partnerships.

The company has a stake in Century Aluminum Co., a US-based aluminum producer, holding a 44% economic ownership interest.

Glencore also has a partial subsidiary, Minara Resources Ltd, which owns a 70.5% stake in one of Australia's top three nickel producers.

Glencore merged with Xstrata in 2012, a move that created the largest mining takeover ever, with a deal worth £39.1 billion (US$62 billion).

This merger brought together two companies with significant global operations, with Glencore's operations in 40 countries handling 3% of the world's oil consumption.

Xstrata, on the other hand, had operations in more than 20 countries, employing 70,000 people.

The combined entity would be the 4th largest commodities trader in the world, according to mining analyst John Meyer.

Glencore's leaders, Willy Strothotte and Ivan Glasenberg, had already been involved with Xstrata, with Strothotte chairing the company's board and Glasenberg serving on it by 2006.

Glencore controlled 40% of Xstrata's stock at the time, and had appointed Xstrata CEO Mick Davis.

The merger was initially met with shareholder opposition to a huge retention package for executives, with 73 key executives set to receive over £170 million.

Glencore's operations were so vast that it even had more ships than the British Royal Navy by 2012.

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The Paradise Papers revealed some shocking information about Glencore's dealings with Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler. Glencore loaned $45 million to Gertler in exchange for his help with officials of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This loan was tied to negotiations over a joint venture with state-owned Gécamines at the Katanga copper mine, where Glencore had effectively taken over. The loan document specified that repayment would be owed if agreement was not reached within three months.

Gertler and Glencore have denied any wrongdoing in this deal. Appleby, a firm that worked for Glencore and its founder Marc Rich, had a history of working with them on major projects.

Glencore's Australian branch has been involved in some complex financial dealings, carrying out $25 billion in cross-currency interest rate swaps. The Australian Taxation Office suspects these swaps may have been used to avoid paying taxes in Australia.

Glencore is also a co-owner of a large coal freighters fleet called SwissMarine.

In Colombia, Glencore's mining activities have been marred by allegations of corruption and severe human rights violations.

A 2006 report by Swiss public television accused Glencore's Cerrejón mining subsidiary of forced expropriations and evacuations of entire villages to enable mine expansion.

Local union president Francisco Ramirez accused Cerrejón of complicity with Colombian authorities in these actions.

A representative of the Wayuu community accused Colombian paramilitary and military units, including those charged with Cerrejón mining security, of forcibly driving Wayuu people off their land.

In 2012, a BBC investigation uncovered sale documents showing Glencore had paid associates of paramilitary killers in Colombia.

A Colombian court accepted evidence from former paramilitaries that they stole land to sell to Glencore's subsidiary Prodeco, starting an open-cast coal mine.

Glencore disputed the court's ruling, but Prodeco was fined nearly $700,000 in 2009 for environmental violations, including waste disposal without a permit and producing coal without an environmental management plan.

The Netherlands-based NGO Pax for Peace investigated Prodeco's activities and found that paramilitary forces were supported by the mining company with finance, equipment, and information.

Residents of the Cesar mining region suffered greatly from paramilitary violence from 1996 to 2006, with those who stood up for their rights still being threatened.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a significant location for Glencore's operations. Glencore effectively took over the Katanga copper mine in the country.

Glencore loaned $45 million to Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler to help with negotiations over a joint venture with state-owned Gécamines at the Katanga copper mine. This loan was made in exchange for Gertler's influence with officials of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The loan document specified that repayment would be owed if agreement was not reached within three months. Glencore agreed to vote for the joint venture, which was a key part of the deal.

Glencore had a major shareholder, Telis Mistakidis, who was also a board member of the joint venture.

For more insights, see: Glencore Congo

In Zambia, a significant environmental issue was once present due to pollution from Glencore's Mopani mine, causing acid rain and health problems in an area where 5 million people live.

The Mopani mine's emissions of sulphur dioxide were reported to exceed World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations by a factor of 70 up to 2013.

However, the upgrade of the Mopani Mines asset plant in March 2014 eliminated 97 per cent of sulphur dioxide emissions, bringing them in line with international standards.

The Swiss government's visit to the Mopani Copper Mines in January 2019 was met with criticism from Amnesty International and Swiss watchdog groups, despite the federal councilor's defence of the modernisation of production facilities, improved health care, and better training for young workers.

In 2024, the Chilean tax authorities initiated a process to recoup over $1.5 billion in unpaid taxes from Glencore.

The board of directors plays a crucial role in shaping the company's direction and strategy.

The current non-executive chairman is Kalidas Madhavpeddi, who brings a wealth of experience to the role.

Gary Nagle serves as the CEO, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company.

The board consists of eight non-executive directors, each with their own unique expertise and background.

Here is a list of the non-executive directors:

ACCR has been actively engaging with Glencore, a major coal producer in Australia, to assess its climate plan. Glencore is the biggest producer of thermal coal in Australia.

Glencore has plans for new and expanded coal mines, including a greenfield coal mine in Queensland. ACCR's analysis found that Glencore's forward coal production and emissions targets are not aligned with the Paris Agreement goals.

ACCR released a report estimating that Glencore is underestimating fugitive methane emissions from its coal operations in Australia. The company is a super-emitter, with significant environmental implications.

At Glencore's 2023 AGM, shareholders expressed their concerns, with 30% voting against the company's Climate Plan. This is a notable result, with 29% of shareholders supporting a co-filed resolution requesting greater transparency on emissions and capex alignment.

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Glencore has faced numerous human rights abuse accusations since 2010, with over 70 documented by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

These accusations have sparked reactions from various parties, including organizations and individuals concerned about the company's practices.

The sheer number of accusations suggests a pattern of behavior that warrants closer examination and potential reform.

Dan Gertler and the Congo is a significant part of the company's history, with a major scandal unfolding in 2005 when proceeds from an oil sale to Glencore were seized as fraudulent gains as part of an investigation into corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2007, Nikanor was merged into Katanga in a transaction valued at US$3.3 billion, which likely had some connection to Gertler's dealings in the region.

The IPO launched in May 2011 valued the business at US$61 billion and created five new billionaires, but it's worth noting that trading was initially limited to institutional investors for the first week.

In April 2018, Glencore canceled a plan to swap a stake in United Co. Rusal for shares in En+ Group Plc, limiting its exposure to Oleg Deripaska.

The company's CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, resigned from Rusal's board as a result of this decision.

Glencore owns a 10.55% stake in En+ Group International PJSC, the controlling shareholder of aluminum giant United Co. Rusal International.

In March 2022, Glencore strongly condemned the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and stated it would review its business activities in the country.

The company had "no operational footprint in Russia", but British news outlets noted that Glencore loaded cargoes of oil products onto tankers at Russian ports in mid-March 2022.

Glencore remained in the business of trading Russian crude, unlike some other oil companies like BP Plc and Shell Plc, which were pressured to halt Russian oil purchases.

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Glencore has faced numerous human rights abuse accusations since 2010. Over 70 such accusations have been documented by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

Some of these accusations highlight concerns about labor rights. Workers in Glencore's operations have reported being subjected to poor working conditions, low wages, and long working hours.

The sheer number of accusations against Glencore is staggering. It's a stark reminder that the company's operations have had a significant impact on the lives of many people.

Glencore's actions have been criticized for putting profits over people. This has led to widespread criticism and scrutiny of the company's practices.

Glencore, a mining company, was accused of engaging in a large-scale lobbying campaign to promote coal use.

The campaign, which started in 2017, was globally coordinated and aimed to undermine environmental activists, influence politicians, and spread pro-coal messaging on social media.

The Guardian Australia reported that Glencore used consulting firm CT Group to aid in this campaign.

The campaign ran until 2019, when it was shut down in February, according to Glencore.

Glencore has faced significant scrutiny from regulatory bodies. In 2019, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission launched an investigation into the company's dealings.

The investigation focused on potential corrupt practices related to commodities. Glencore's dealings with foreign governments were found to be problematic.

Glencore agreed to pay a $1.8 billion fine in 2022, admitting to corrupt practices that occurred from 2007 to 2018. The company made and concealed corrupt payments and bribes through intermediaries for the benefit of foreign officials across multiple countries.

The DOJ Investigation of Glencore was a significant case that shed light on the company's practices. In July 2018, Glencore received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice to produce documents related to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering statutes.

The investigation centered on Glencore's business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela from 2007 to present. This period was marked by alleged corrupt practices, which ultimately led to the company's downfall.

Glencore's dealings with Dan Gertler and DRC President Joseph Kabila were also under scrutiny. In May 2018, Bloomberg reported that Britain's Serious Fraud Office may open a bribery investigation into these dealings.

On May 24, 2022, Glencore pleaded guilty to multiple counts of bribery and agreed to pay penalties of about $1.5 billion. This marked a significant turning point in the company's history, as it acknowledged its wrongdoing and took steps to make amends.

Here's a timeline of key events in the DOJ Investigation:

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Glencore was involved in a bribery case in South Sudan where they sent USD 800,000 in cash in a money case to an unstable country.

The company was fined GBP 280,965,092.95 and had to forfeit their profits related to five African countries.

This incident raises questions about the company's practices, particularly with a cash desk that sent such a large sum of money in a single case.

The company's guilty plea and significant fine demonstrate the consequences of their actions.