News wire — Glencore said on Monday it will pay about $152 million as a fine and compensation claim after Swiss authorities found the company liable for failing to prevent the bribery of a Congolese public official by a business partner in 2011.
The global miner and trader said it does not admit to the findings of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, but has agreed not to appeal the penalty order so it can resolve the matter.
A parallel probe by Dutch authorities has also been concluded after the case was dismissed following the resolution of the Swiss probe, Glencore added.
Glencore International has been fined 2 million Swiss francs ($2.36 million) and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland imposed a compensation claim of about $150 million, the company said.
“The OAG stated in the summary penalty order that it did not identify that any Glencore employees had any knowledge of the bribery by the business partner, nor did Glencore benefit financially from the conduct of the business partner,” Glencore added.
($1 = 0.8478 Swiss francs)
Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta – Reuters
