Glencore subpoenaed under US anti-corruption laws

Glencore had more than R100bn of its market value wiped out on news that the US Department of Justice has subpoenaed it for documents under that country’s money laundering and anti-corruption laws, says a Business Day report. Late on Monday last week – under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and US money laundering statutes – Glencore was ordered to hand over documents relating to its business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Venezuela, dating back to 2007. Glencore mines cobalt and copper in the DRC and is an exporter of Nigerian and Venezuelan oil. Being at the centre of controversy is not unfamiliar territory for Glencore, notes the report. The company has come under fire in SA for its role in a consortium that controversially bought 10m barrels of the strategic oil reserves at a bargain price of $28 a barrel in 2015. Market reaction may have been compounded by other difficulties faced by Glencore in 2018, in particular seemingly separate allegations of corruption at its operations in the DRC and a potential investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. Glencore said it was reviewing the subpoena and would provide further information in due course.