Glencore announced on Monday that it will disburse approximately $152 million as a fine and compensation claim following a determination by Swiss authorities that the company was responsible for not preventing the bribery of a Congolese public official by a business associate in 2011.
The multinational mining and trading entity stated that it does not acknowledge the findings of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland but has consented to not contest the penalty order in order to settle the issue. Glencore also noted that a concurrent investigation by Dutch authorities has been finalized after the case was dropped subsequent to the resolution of the Swiss investigation.
Glencore International has been penalized with 2 million Swiss francs ($2.36 million), and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland has mandated a compensation claim of about $150 million, according to the company. Glencore further mentioned that the OAG indicated in the summary penalty order that it did not ascertain that any Glencore employees had knowledge of the bribery by the business partner, nor did Glencore gain financially from the actions of the business partner.
