Glencore faces US money laundering investigation

Glencore
Glencore's shares dropped after the US Department of Justice demanded money laundering documents

Mining giant Glencore has revealed demands from the US Department of Justice to hand over documents in relation to corruption and money laundering rules.

The FTSE 100 company said the files related to its operations in Venezuela, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo stretching back as far as 2007 and concern its compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and US money laundering laws.

Glencore said it was “reviewing the subpoena and will provide further information in due course as appropriate”. 

The news sent Glencore’s shares down more than 10pc to 314p on Tuesday morning, wiping more than £5bn off its market value.

Glencore, which is helmed by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg, has mines and offices in 50 countries and generated revenues of more than $200bn last year.  

The news comes after the commodity mining and trading company settled a thorny legal fight last month in the Democratic Republic of Congo over a copper mining joint venture. It agreed to recapitalise Kamoto Copper Company, which is 25pc owned by state-backed company Gecamines and 75pc by Katanga Mining, which is in turn majority owned by Glencore.

In return Gecamines agreed to drop legal action that could have resulted in the dissolution of the company and Glencore losing Kamoto’s mining licence. 

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