Footsie listing a 'flag of convenience'

By This Is Money
Updated: 03:37 EDT, 13 April 2011

A complaint to the OECD over alleged accounting manipulation and tax avoidance is hardly the kind of publicity Glencore was seeking in the week it is due to announce its float on the London stock market.

The company has been touring City investors in order to 'educate' them on the value of its highly secretive business, and the float has been welcomed as a shot in the arm for a FTSE 100 index still struggling to bounce back from the financial crisis.

Sometimes described as the Goldman Sachs of commodities, Glencore's float will present its partners with share windfalls that would make an investment banker choke on his Krug - the average is believed to be around £60m, though they won't be able to cash it in all at once.

Perhaps a complaint from non-governmental organisations, including Christian Aid's partner in Zambia, seems a minor matter when viewed from the Square Mile, but it raises some serious questions.

Citizens of Zambia, one of the poorest countries on the planet, have seen little benefit from copper exports and those living in the vicinity of the Mopani mines have to endure sulphur pollution well above World Health Organisation limits.

Some will shrug and think this is just the way of the world. Yet when a business like Glencore, which is headquartered in tax-friendly Switzerland and carries out its operations in far-flung parts of the world - wants to list in London, we need to know about its governance and ethics.

The company has its roots in the empire built by fugitive oil trader Marc Rich - now studiously airbrushed from its official history - who fled to Switzerland after being indicted in the US for tax evasion and dealing with Iran even when President Carter imposed sanctions following the 1979 hostage crisis.

Glencore has nodded to corporate governance sensibilities by replacing Willy Strothotte, an old associate of Rich, as chairman. Strothotte also chairs London-listed miner Xstrata, in which Glencore holds a 34.5% stake.

Some new board candidates are interesting. One frontrunner for chairman is Simon Murray, a 71-year old Hong Kong-based British businessman and former French foreign legionnaire.

Tony Hayward, reviled for his part in the BP oil spill, is expected to become senior independent director.

Glencore will go straight into our pension funds, thanks to its impending membership of the FTSE 100 index, which is rapidly morphing from the home of flagship British companies into a flag of convenience for Kazakh mining groups and international commodity dealers.

Is that really something the City should celebrate?

Price surprise

Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, can breathe a sigh of relief at the fall in the inflation numbers - but not a very deep one.

The surprising retreat in inflation should quieten some of the squawks from the hawks on the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee. It may also produce a lull in the criticisms that King is losing credibility over inflation targets.

Borrowers are almost certain to enjoy a reprieve from higher mortgage costs until at least the late summer.

Inflation has been dampened primarily because supermarkets have pushed down food and drink prices in response to straitened household budgets.

Rises in clothing and footwear have slowed significantly too. But CPI inflation at 4% is not exactly a cause to hang out cut-price bunting bought for the Royal Wedding a week or two early, since it is still double the MPC's 2% target.

The RPI, which includes housing costs, nudged down by less: to 5.3% in March from 5.5% in February. That divergence could be ominous for millions who are to have pensions and benefits linked to CPI instead of the higher RPI measure.

The big question is whether inflation has genuinely embarked on a trajectory that will take it back to that 2% level.

With oil prices continuing to hover around long-term highs and commodity prices adding to the pressure, it looks pretty doubtful.

Knockout Cox

The battle between Katherine Garrett-Cox, chief executive of Alliance Trust, and Isle of Man-based activist shareholder Laxey Partners has its arcane side: the spat over voting in the investor savings schemes conspired to make the AV debate look riveting.

But this is an important battle, especially after US investor Edward Bramson recently wrested control of fellow asset manager F&C. Laxey and its fellow activist Elliott are short-termists intervening in a funds group that is 123 years old, with small savers looking for long term value.

If those savers care about the future of Alliance, they should vote for Garrett-Cox.