Switzerland-based commodity traders Trafigura,Vitol and Glencore beget recently come under scrutiny for their alleged links to corrupt intermediaries swept up in Brazil’s Lava Jato [Car Wash] investigations. The companies deny wrong-doing in the South American nation, but the high frequency of corruption allegations in this sector centered around problematic intermediaries raises the question of how commodities traders ensure due diligence in high-risk countries. “The cases and investigations involving the commodities sector would propose that in many instances due diligence processes are feeble, and perhaps non-existent or risks are inadequately mitigated when red flags are obvious,” Gemma Aiolfi of the Basel Institute on Governance told swissinfo.ch. In a November report entitled “Friends in Low Places”, Global Witness and Public Eye laid out a long list of red flags raised by the in-court testimony of individuals embroiled in Brazil’s Car Wash scandal. It concluded there was ...
Source: swissinfo.ch