Investors Sue over Glencore Bribery Conviction

Multiple sovereign wealth funds and investment firms have filed a lawsuit against mining and commodity trading group Glencore, the Financial Times has reported. The class action-style lawsuit was prompted by Glencore’s conviction of bribery earlier this year, following a probe by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). While the SFO penalty will be determined in November, the US and Brazil settled their own cases against Glencore in May for about US$1.5 billion.Investigations into the company’s misconduct are still under way in Switzerland and the Netherlands, and the US Department of Justice has said it may pursue individuals for their role in the bribery cases. The lawsuit was filed by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and International Petroleum Investment Company, the Kuwait Investment Authority, and Norges Bank, which operates Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. Asset managers and owners abrdn, HSBC, Phoenix Life, Standard Life, Reassure, Aabar Investments, and British Airways Pension Trustees are also among the claimants. The Financial Times said the claims relate to investor losses suffered in 2011 and 2013 on the basis of the misconduct identified in corruption probes against Glencore.

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