Glencore hit with investor lawsuit after bribery conviction
Glencore is facing a class-action-style lawsuit in London’s High Court, following its conviction for bribery earlier this year.
More than a dozen global investors have brought claims against one of the world’s largest commodity traders.
This includes Mubadala, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Norges Bank and the International Petroleum Investment Company, according to court documents seen by The Financial Times.
Investors Abrdn and HSBC are also among the claimants, as are Phoenix Life, Standard Life, Reassure, and British Airways Pension Trustees.
While the cases have been opened, the particulars of claim documents setting out the allegations are yet to be filed.
Sources told the newspaper that the claims revolve around investor losses suffered in 2011 and 2013 on the basis of the misconduct identified in the corruption probes.
Glencore pleaded guilty to bribery this year following a Serious Fraud Office probe, with the financial penalty set to be determined next month.
The bribery conviction is one of the highest-profile cases to have been won against a major trading house.
Despite the legal set back, the company reported record earnings of $18.9bn for the first six months of trading this year, fuelled by the bumper profits of its coal business.
Glencore’s share price is also up 27 per cent since the start of the year.
It has set aside $1.5bn to pay the fines for its bribery convictions in the US, UK and Brazil.
Similar investigations into misconduct are still under way in Switzerland and the Netherlands, while the US Department of Justice has said it may pursue individuals for their role in the bribery cases.
The successful prosecution in the UK follows a comparable case in the US, where Glencore swallowed a fine of $1.1bn and pleaded guilty to bribery and market manipulation.
Glencore announced in May it had taken significant steps to enhance its ethics and compliance programme.
“Glencore today is not the company it was when the unacceptable practices behind this misconduct occurred,” chair Kalidas Madhavpeddi said in May.
Defendants listed in the new court filings alongside Glencore include former chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, former chair Tony Hayward and other top executives.
Glencore has been approached for comment.