Antinuclear

Coming to Australia – Glencore – a company some see as rotten to the core

 From Wikipedia  “Glencore’s history reads like a spy novel“.^[6] The company was founded as Marc Rich & Co. AG in 1974 by now-billionaire commodity trader Marc Rich, who was charged with tax evasion and illegal business dealings with Iran in the U.S., but pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001.^[7] He was never brought before U.S. justice before his pardoning, therefore there was never a verdict on these charges….

Dealings with “rogue states”

ABC Radio reported that Glencore “has been accused of illegal dealings with rogue states: apartheid South Africa, USSR, Iran, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein“, and has a “history of busting UN embargoes to profit from corrupt or despotic regimes”.^[6] Specifically, Glencore was reported to have been named by the CIA to have paid $3,222,780 in illegal kickbacks to obtain oil in the course of the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq.

… Investments in Colombia

Moreover, Swiss public television (TSR) reported in 2006 that allegations of corruption and severe human rights violations were being raised against Glencore on account of the alleged conduct of its Colombian Cerrejón mining subsidiary. Local union president Francisco Ramirez was reported to have accused Cerrejón of forced expropriations and evacuations of entire villages in order to enable mine expansion, in complicity with Colombian authorities. 

Glencore goes in where others fear to tread, Dan Fortson, THE AUSTRALIAN The Australian  May 09, 2011  “….To convince investors to buy in, Glencore had to bare all. Last week, it issued a 1600-page prospectus that for the first time revealed the full extent of its empire.

…. It makes for some uncomfortable reading: dealings with corrupt regimes, bets on grain while the developing world riots over food, environmental problems in desperately poor African countries……Glencore is governed by a relentless, 24/7 mentality.

Goldman may be the original “vampire squid” but Glencore’s tentacles stretch much further into our lives. Whether it’s the iPhone in your pocket, the petrol in your car or the food on your plate, it’s a good bet that before it got to you, Glencore had taken its cut.

It starts with Glasenberg, 54. The South African has spent his entire career at the company……..  Congo copper miner that Glencore bought into in 2008. At the time, Congo was rated by the World Bank as the most corrupt country.

Dan Gertler, the controversial Israeli tycoon who controlled Katanga, and is a close friend of the president, Joseph Kabila, is Glasenberg’s main partner there.

….. The unwanted celebrity that comes with becoming a public company, though, may have unintended consequences. Glencore operates in some of the most destitute countries in the world. Its success in pulling the strings of the global economy — and the fabulous wealth it generates for its traders — is now there for all to see.

Will cash-strapped governments still be happy to stand by and watch? Possibly not. Indeed, it has happened before. Glencore used to own the Vinto smelter until Bolivia nationalised it in 2007.

It’s the type of hazard that Glencore’s new shareholders will have to get used to.

May 10, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, business