The UK accounting regulator has launched an investigation into Deloitte over its auditing of Glencore, following a corruption scandal at the FTSE 100 mining and commodities trading group.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said on Wednesday it was probing whether Deloitte “gave sufficient consideration to the risk of noncompliance with laws and regulations” when it signed off Glencore’s accounts between 2013 and 2020.
Glencore pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2022 following sprawling investigations by authorities in the US, UK and Brazil, agreeing to pay $1.5 billion (€1.27 billion) of penalties following allegations of bribery and market manipulation.
The US department of justice said at the time that Glencore and its subsidiaries had made and hidden “corrupt payments and bribes” in multiple countries over the course of a decade, including to “avoid government audits” and to “make lawsuits disappear”.
In the UK, Glencore pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery in 2022 and was ordered to pay almost £300 million for corruption.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office is still investigating after charging several former Glencore executives over allegations of bribery by its oil trading division in Africa. Swiss authorities last year ordered the company to pay $152 million after a four-year investigation into alleged bribery of a Congolese public official by one of Glencore’s business partners.
The FRC has the power to impose penalties on auditors, including fines. The watchdog said its probe related to audits of Glencore plc and its subsidiary Glencore Energy UK Limited.
Deloitte’s work on four separate audits is already being examined by UK regulators, including its audit of Stenn, a fintech that collapsed into administration in December after its lenders began probing potentially suspicious transactions.
The other investigations relate to the Big Four firm’s work on transport group Go-Ahead, upmarket clothing retailer Joules and car dealership Lookers.
Deloitte said it was “committed to the highest standards of audit quality” and would “fully co-operate” with the investigation.
Glencore declined to comment. – Cop–right The Financial Times Limited 2025
