Glencore has already set aside US$1.5bn to pay penalties relating to alleged bribery, corruption and manipulation
Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) said it agreed to pay penalties of up to US$1.5bn to settle widespread investigations into alleged bribery, manipulation and corruption.
The Anglo-Swiss commodity trading and mining company said on Tuesday that it had “cooperated” with a series of investigations into its conduct that were carried out by authorities in the US, UK and Brazil.
The FTSE-100 company has so far agreed to pay regulators about US$1.06bln in penalties, excluding any further charges brought from ongoing investigations by Swiss and Dutch authorities, and said it will plead guilty to UK charges relating to the Serious Fraud Office’s bribery investigation with the amount expected to be determined next month.
Glencore set aside US$1.5bn in its 2021 financial statement to pay the anticipated charges. Yesterday it reiterated that it expects this amount to cover total penalties, including the UK payment, in connection with bribery and corruption investigations.
"Glencore today is not the company it was when the unacceptable practices behind this misconduct occurred,” said Kalidas Madhavpeddi, who took over as chairman last July.
Glencore agreed to pay US authorities about US$1.02bn in net charges relating to bribery and market manipulation investigations brought by the US Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
It also agreed to pay about US$39.6mln to settle bribery charges from Brazilian authorities following state investigations into Brazilian state-owned energy company Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) (Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)) over the "Operation Car Wash" probe.
Glencore also faces ongoing investigations by Swiss and Dutch authorities over failing to have sufficient measures in place to prevent alleged corruption.
The company said it has taken remediation actions such as disciplining staff accused of wrongdoing and has updated its board and management team. It appointed a dedicated head of compliance in 2020.
“We acknowledge the misconduct identified in these investigations and have cooperated with the authorities,” said chief executive Gary Nagle.
“This type of behaviour has no place in Glencore, and the board, management team and I are very clear about the culture that we want and our commitment to be a responsible and ethical operator wherever we work.
“We have taken significant action towards building and implementing a world-class Ethics and Compliance Programme to ensure that our core controls are entrenched and effective in every corner of our business."
Glencore's shares were up 2.1% in mid-morning trading at 530.5p, outperforming the FTSE 100.