By Felicity Duncan
Earlier this week, regulators in Canada levied a record fine on Glencore’s Katanga copper mining company and banned its billionaire head of copper trading, Aristotelis Mistakidis, from serving as a director in Canada.
This is just the latest setback for a company that has become enmeshed in legal troubles. In the US, the Department of Justice is investigating whether Glencore’s actions in Nigeria, Congo, and Venezuela have violated the country’s anti-corruption laws. Shareholders are suing the company over alleged misleading statements, and British fraud authorities are investigating it.
In response, Glencore’s share price has plummeted – it is lower now than it was in 2012. Some analysts worry that Glencore’s apparent flouting of US sanctions has raised the risk that banks will cut it off, which would be catastrophic for the capital-hungry company.
As the various investigations into its conduct grind on, one thing is clear – ethics matter. Glencore’s risk-taking approach and, especially, its willingness to work with governments and individuals that flout international law, have put the company on the hit list of governments in Canada, the US, and the UK. It is now paying the price. Even in the wild west world of mining, no one is above the law.
