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Lawsuit

5 Dec 2019

Glencore Energy UK lawsuit (re corruption of officials across Africa, filed in the UK)

Status: CLOSED

Date lawsuit was filed
5 Dec 2019
Unknown
Location of Filing: United Kingdom
Location of Incident: Equatorial Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, South Sudan, Cameroon
Type of Litigation: Transnational

Companies

Glencore Switzerland Metals & steel, Mining, Oil, gas & coal

Sources

Snapshot

On 3 November 2022, a UK court ordered Glencore Energy UK (part of Glencore) to pay over £280 million after it pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery in five African countries, following a UK Serious Fraud Office probe.

Factual Background

In December 2019, the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened an investigation against Glencore Energy UK, the UK subsidiary of commodities trader Glencore. In August 2021, the investigations revealed that two Glencore executives flew into South Sudan on a private jet with $800,000 in cash. Withdrawal records for this money indicated that it was intended for the opening of a new office in the country; in reality, it was given to officials in the newly formed government. Glencore was ordered to pay £276 million ($310 million) after pleading guilty to seven counts of bribery in African countries ranging from Nigeria to Cameroon in the largest ever such penalty in a corporate criminal conviction.

In September 2022, a US District Judge sentenced Glencore to $486 million in fines and forfeiture for conspiring to manipulate US oil price benchmarks between 2012 and 2016, as well as to pay $700 million to resolve a US bribery probe.

Glencore was also sentenced to pay $39,598,367 under a resolution signed with the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor’s Office (“MPF”) in connection with its bribery investigation into the Group.

As of November 2022, Glencore has closed the proceedings against it in the following three countries: USA, UK and Brazil in exchange for full payment of fines (estimated at $1.5 billion).

Further proceedings in Switzerland and the Netherlands are still ongoing.

Legal Argument

On 21 June 2022, Glencore pleaded guilty before the Honorary Recorder of Westminster to seven counts of bribery in the following countries: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and South Sudan. In this court case, all the counts of bribery were under the UK Bribery Act 2010. Counts 1 to 5 relate to offences of bribery, contrary to section 1 of the Bribery Act. Counts 6 and 7 are about failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery, which is contrary to section 7 of the same Act.

Legal Proceedings

Following a 2019 SFO investigation, Glencore Energy UK, Glencore's British subsidiary, pleaded guilty twice to corruption charges brought by the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

On 24 May 2022, Glencore Energy UK told the court that it would plead guilty to five counts of bribery and two counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act 2010. The charges related to oil operations in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Sudan between 2012 and 2016.

On 21 June 2022, it pleaded guilty to the seven counts of bribery.

On 3 November 2022, Southwark Crown Court court ordered Glencore Energy UK (part of Glencore) to pay over £280 million for bribery.

In a statement, Glencore's Chairman said: “The conduct that took place was inexcusable and has no place in Glencore. The Company is committed to operating a company that creates value for all stakeholders by operating transparently under a well-defined set of values, with openness and integrity at the forefront. The Company has taken significant action towards implementing a world-class Ethics and Compliance Programme built around risk assessment, policies, procedures, standards and guidelines based on international best practice, associated training and awareness initiatives as well as monitoring systems.”

Glencore is the first business to be convicted under the Bribery Act 2010 for the active authorisation of bribery rather than a failure to prevent it.

New Items

- Glencore to pay £280 million for ‘highly corrosive’ and ‘endemic’ corruption, Serious Fraud Office (UK), 3 Nov 2022

- UK: Glencore subsidiary gets $310 million penalty due to bribery charges, Reuters, 3 Nov 2022

- Africa: UK prosecutors detail how Glencore used a cash desk in its Swiss headquarters & private jets to courier illicit payments across West Africa to pay bribes, News 24, 3 Nov 2022

- Glencore pleads guilty to bribery charges before UK Courts for the second time, BBC News, 22 Jun 2022

- Glencore 'to admit' charges related to $25m bribes for oil contracts, Sky News, 25 May 2022

Glencore

- Glencore Energy UK limited fully resolves investigation by UK authorities, Glencore, 3 Nov 2022

Court Documents

- Remarks of Mr Justice Fraser Southwark concerning the decision of the Crown Court, Judiciary of England and Wales, 3 Nov 2022

Timeline