London — The US corruption and money-laundering probe of Glencore represents the sum of all fears for the world’s largest commodity trader and its billionaire CEO, Ivan Glasenberg. The possibility that the justice department would add to the dizzying array of regulatory and legal headaches the Swiss company is facing — from Russia to Africa and South America — has been a major worry for both executives and shareholders for months, people familiar with the matter said. Those concerns crystallised on Tuesday with the announcement that US investigators have subpoenaed documents related to Glencore’s activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Venezuela dating back to 2007, sending the shares tumbling more than 8%. The most obvious risk from the US investigation is a hefty fine or settlement, but the stock plunge, which erased $5bn of market value, far exceeded the largest penalty ever imposed under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That suggests investors have de...
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