(Alliance News) - Glencore PLC on Thursday said it will pay GBP281.0 million after it admitted to bribing offences in Africa.
The penalty was handed to the mining firm by the Southwark Crown Court in London, where Glencore had admitted to five counts of bribery and two counts of failure to prevent bribery.
Glencore was found to have used bribes to secure better access to oil in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast between March 2012 to April 2016.
"As the [UK Serious Fraud Office] noted, Glencore provided a high level of cooperation with the SFO's investigation and engaged in an extensive programme of corporate reform," the miner said.
Glencore said the total amount it has paid to resolve legal matters in the UK, US and Brazil "do not materially differ" from a USD1.50 billion provision it set aside in its 2021 annual results.
"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 & 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," Chair Kalidas Madhavpeddi said.
PA reported that this is the first time a UK corporation has been convicted of authorising bribery from the top, rather than simply turning a blind eye to it at other levels of a company.
The court heard that Glencore's anti-bribery and corruption policies and procedures had been "largely ignored because corruption was condoned at a very senior level within the company generally", PA reported.
Glencore had set aside a USD1.50 billion provision in its 2021 results for probes involving the US Department of Justice, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the UK Serious Fraud Office, and the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor's Office.
Glencore shares were 0.1% higher at 514.50 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon. In Johannesburg, the stock was down 1.3% at ZAR106.25.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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