Glencore Energy’s $324M fine for bribery comes with warning to others

Glencore Energy UK was ordered to pay nearly 281 million pounds (U.S. $314 million) in fines and costs after an investigation by the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) found it paid $29 million in bribes to gain preferential access to oil in Africa to boost profits.

The penalty is the largest ever for an SFO case following a corporate conviction, largely because of the fact senior officials had deliberately authorized the bribery rather than failed to prevent it.

Two of the individuals involved in the misconduct were business ethics officers or on the business ethics committee at Glencore’s London office and are still under investigation, according to a source close to the information.