Our approach to transparency

We are committed to high standards of corporate governance and transparency. We seek to maintain long-term, open, transparent and constructive relationships and dialogue with our key stakeholders.

Our approach

Through our presence, we can deliver significant and sustainable economic benefits to our host governments, employees, suppliers and communities. We seek to understand and manage our impacts, generate sustainable benefits for our host communities, while also promoting diversified and resilient local economies. We believe that our transparency encourages the responsible management of revenues, supports an improved understanding of our activities and contributions and strengthens accountability.

Our contributions in 2022

  • $12.0bn

    in income taxes, royalties and other payments

  • 28.1%

    Adjusted Effective Tax Rate

  • $6.3bn

    in salaries, wages, social security and other benefits

  • $90m

    on initiatives supporting local community development

Fiscal Transparency

We support and welcome fiscal transparency, for both the payments we make to governments and the redistribution and reinvestment of these payments. We are committed to complying with all applicable tax laws, rules and regulations. We pay all relevant taxes, royalties and other levies in amounts determined by the legislation of relevant national, regional or local governments.

Our Group Tax Policy covers our approach to tax strategy, management and control of our tax affairs. We actively seek to identify, manage and mitigate our tax risks. Identified tax risks are actively managed within an appropriate tax risk framework and control procedures. Significant risks are routinely reported to the Board and Audit Committee. 

In our annual Sustainability Report, we provide detailed disclosure on our tax and royalty payments to governments, as well as the socio-economic contributions we make in the countries in which we operate.

Payments to Governments Report

Our activities as a global natural resource company and the payments we make support governments to realise value from their natural resources. Governments can use the taxes and royalties that we pay to fund public services and infrastructure to improve their citizens’ quality of life. We believe countries that transparently and effectively allocate natural resource wealth for the benefit of their communities have the potential to attract more responsible and longer-term business investment. 

Since 2015, we have published an annual Payments to Governments report, in line with the reporting requirements of Chapter 10 of the EU Accounting Directive. The report includes our contributions to the national, regional and local economies in which we operate, including taxes, royalties and other related information. In response to external stakeholders’ feedback, we expanded our disclosures on certain countries, our contributions and activities in the countries where our payments to government are $100 million or higher, our large custom and excise payments to government entities as well as details on material advances and loans payable. The report also describes our approach to tax transparency and includes our Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) disclosures.

Our commitments

2020 Payments to Governments Report

Watch the video below to find out more about our commitments as well as the broader socio-economic contribution we make across the countries where we operate.
Watch Film

Watch the video below to find out more about our commitments as well as the broader socio-economic contribution we make across the countries where we operate.

OECD/G20 – BEPS Country-by-Country Reporting

Since 2016, Glencore has prepared a country-by-country report that aggregates tax information per country relating to the global allocation of income, taxes paid and other indicators. 

We lodge this report with the Swiss Tax Authorities and, in line with the OECD requirements, it is made available to other tax authorities under the protocols for the automatic exchange of tax information in the jurisdictions where Glencore has a taxable presence. This enables these authorities to monitor the amount of tax that Glencore pays. 

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) 

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is a multi-stakeholder initiative between governments, companies and civil society, which promotes the open and accountable management of extractive resources. The EITI Standard 2019 sets out the global standard for the good governance in the extractive industry.

Glencore has been an active supporter of the EITI since 2011 and engages with the EITI at both local and international levels. We are supportive of the EITI and the objective of the EITI Association to make the EITI Principles and the EITI Standard the internationally accepted standard for transparency in the oil, gas, and mining sectors.

Where we operate in EITI member countries, we provide local EITI disclosures, participate in local multi-stakeholder groups and engage in policy consultation processes as appropriate. 

We promote commodity-trading transparency by disclosing the payments we make to state-owned enterprises in EITI member countries for the purchases of crude oil, minerals and metals. We include these EITI commodity-trading disclosures in our annual Payments to Government report.

We are proud to support and promote the EITI Initiative, which shares our commitment to promote transparency and disclosure throughout the extractives industry. The EITI’s standard and framework builds and maintains trust and good governance and strengthens civil society’s capacity to hold their governments and the extractive sector to account. Our support of the EITI reflects our ambition to be active and valued societal participants by the communities that host us. 

Gary Nagle - CEO

Contract transparency

Since 2019, we have publicly stated our commitment towards supporting and encouraging the disclosure of mining and exploration contracts with host governments in our annual Payments to Government Report. We believe that this type of contract transparency can support building trust and ensuring accountability in the sector. 

We welcome the EITI Standard’s approach for contract transparency for EITI-compliant countries. Similarly, as a member of the International Council of Mining and Metals (ICMM), we support their Transparency of Mineral Revenues Position Statement , which includes a commitment to contract transparency.

In line with the ICMM’s position on contract transparency, we disclose our mineral development contracts with host governments, granted or entered into post 1 January 2021, where such disclosure is not prohibited by law, regulation or express confidentiality provisions prohibiting the disclosure of the contract and in respect of which we are not able to obtain consent to disclose. We exclude generic licenses and contracts for operations not majority-owned or controlled by Glencore from our disclosure. We encourage the joint venture companies that are majority owned by ICMM members (either singly or jointly) and in which we hold an interest to also implement ICMM’s commitment on contract transparency. 

We have reviewed our mineral development contracts and we have identified the following contracts meeting the ICMM’s disclosure requirements: 

Glencore industrial asset  Jurisdiction  Contract* 
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     72 Zhairem*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     91 Ridder Sokolny*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     92 Tishinsky*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     95 Maleevsky*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     837 Ushkatyn1*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     1185 Vasilkovsky*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     2450 Dolinny and Obruchevsky*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     2841 Uzynzal*
Kazzinc Kazakhstan 4534 Dzhumba*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     4623 Chekmar*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     5252 Prigranichnaya*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     5253 Sakmarihinskaya*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan 5341 Shybinskaya*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     5342 Revnushenskaya*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     5369 Karazhal*
Kazzinc     Kazakhstan     5375 Akbastau*

*We engaged with the relevant government to obtain consent to disclosure of the contract.

Beneficial ownership

In 2021, Glencore, along with four other mining companies, announced a series of commitments  on beneficial ownership transparency, which goes beyond existing commitments made by the signatories as EITI supporting companies.

As part of our beneficial owner transparency commitment, we provide beneficial ownership information  for our operating joint ventures across our industrial business.

In addition, we are committed to not partnering or contracting with companies assessed as high corruption risk that decline to identify their beneficial owners unless appropriate mitigation measures are implemented to reduce corruption risk.

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Group entities

As part of our transparency commitment, we provide a list of entities where the Group owns more than 20% interest. 

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Disclosure of sales and purchase agents

Sales and purchase agents are third parties appointed to act and represent Glencore in a specified region or territory. Recognising the inherent risks associated with sales and purchase agents, we have significantly scaled down our engagements with these types of business partners. We only engage sales and purchase agents who provide a clear, tangible service that would otherwise need to be provided by our employees and where we have no office or on the ground presence.

Our Third Party Due Diligence and Management Procedure sets out the steps we take in respect of the management of third parties including onboarding and due diligence, contract terms/scope of services, training, monitoring and payment reviews/controls, renewal, and termination.

As of January 2023, Glencore has three active marketing sales/purchase agents. These agents perform substantive tasks such as submitting documents, arranging logistics and engaging current and potential customers on queries regarding new business and performance of existing business. Their contracts are renewed annually following full refreshed due diligence and audit by an independent auditor.

Name     Country of
incorporation
Country(ies)
of operation
Ultimate beneficial
owners
Commodity(ies)
Rafkin & Co Sweden     The Nordics, Poland,
Hungary, UK, Israel
Kenneth Rafkin (99.5%)
Per Anders Nilsson (0.5%)
Aluminium
Tradehansa     Thailand     Thailand     Phongsak Tanghongs (47%)
Naruemol Tanghongs (6%)
Kanokwan Tanghongs (6%)
Kamonwan Tanghongs (6%)
Sunee Tanghongs (35%)
Aluminium
Golden Gate Trading Co. Taiwan     Taiwan     Howard Tong (24%)
Jeffrey Tong (27.5%)
Jennifer Tong (23.83%)
Betty Tong (24.67%)
Nickel, Ferroalloys

GRI

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an independent sustainability reporting organisation. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) are the first and most widely adopted global standards for sustainability reporting, and enable tax reporting as part of this. Our annual sustainability report aligns with GRI documents, it is available here.

Principles we follow

UN Global Compact
UN Global Compact
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Principle 10
Principle 10

businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery

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Principle 1
Principle 1

Ethical Business

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Principle 10
Principle 10

Reduced Inequalities

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Principle 16
Principle 16

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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Principle 17
Principle 17

Partnerships for the Goals

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Communities
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Stakeholder engagement
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Lobbying
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