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Glencore to declare support for ethical mining to spruce up its image

Commodities trader Glencore will profess its support for a global standard on transparency in natural resources, the Daily Mail can reveal, amid a charm offensive designed to clean up its image. Glencore representatives are flying to Norway to meet figures from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which promotes principles of ethical behaviour at natural resources companies. Sources familiar with both parties said the talks were likely to result in an announcement that Glencore will lend its full support to the EITI. The Swiss-based company’s transformation into a public company has been littered with embarrassing accusations over corporate governance including allegations — denied by the company — that it avoided tax in Zambia. Criticism from campaign groups and investors has persuaded the company to address its image problem, with its first sustainability report set to be published in September. Declaring its backing for the EITI would strengthen its commitment to ethical mining even further by putting Glencore on the record as holding itself to the initiative’s transparency principles. The EITI standards include issues such as ensuring that local people benefit sufficiently from natural resource extraction and eschewing corruption.Glencore has been notable by its absence from a list of EITI backers that reads like a Who’s Who of natural resource giants. The list includes Anglo American, BHP Billiton, BP, Shell and fellow commodities trader Noble Energy. The meeting in Norway is likely to result in Glencore adding its name to the roster of companies which implement EITI principles. The move comes amid increasingly stern treatment of natural resources firms by authorities. The US Dodd-Frank legislation on financial reform calls for transparency in mining, while Britain’s new Bribery Act gives the Serious Fraud Office powers to prosecute UK firms for corruption abroad. Glencore is also waiting for the result of a probe by the European Investment Bank into loans to its Zambian subsidiary. The EIB froze loans to the company after allegations of tax avoidance in Zambia emerged. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Glencore | Source: Daily Mail

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