Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s

According to Global Financial Integrity, multinational corporations’ tax evasion, when averaged per year over the last ten years, amounts to a global net loss of $400 to $440 billion for developing countries
1 June 2011, The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's financial arm, has frozen future loans to Swiss mining giant Glencore, suspected of tax evasion in Zambia.

"Due to serious concerns about Glencore's governance which have been brought to light recently... the president of the EIB has instructed the services to decline any further financing request from this company or one of its subsidiaries," the Luxembourg-based bank's website said.

Following a Zambian probe into tax affairs surrounding the mines and complaints by anti-poverty campaigners, the EIB has informed the EU's anti-fraud office OLAF and launched its own investigation.

"In the event that this investigation were to conclusively demonstrate tax evasion according to the Zambian authorities this would clearly expose MCM to local financial penalties and lead to events that may trigger early repayment of the EIB loan," the bank said.

The cause for the complaint lies in the financial and accounting manipulations performed by the two companies’ subsidiary, Mopani Copper Mines Plc (MCM), in order to evade taxation in Zambia.

Those allegations are based on the results of a 2009 audit performed at the request of the Zambian authorities, with support from Norwegian government, by international accountants Grant Thornton and Econ Pöyry. Among the anomalies revealed by the report, an unexplained increase in operating costs in 2007 (+ $380 million), stunningly low reported volumes of extracted cobalt when compared to similar mining companies operating in the region, and manipulations of copper selling prices in favor of Glencore which constitute a violation of OECD’s “arm’s length” principle. The result of those various processes was to lower by several hundreds of millions dollars MCM’s net income for the 2003-2008 period, hereby substantially lightening the company’s tax burden.

Those actions are all the more deplorable when one considers that the Mopani consortium operates in an already attractive fiscal environment, one highly favorable to foreign investment, and that Mopani also enjoys the effects of a 2000 development agreement with Zambia that provides massive financial and tax exemptions.

And if Zambia doesn’t raise your concerns then warehousing might?

Hagens Berman today announced that it is investigating potential claims against the owners of large metals warehouses, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Glencore International PLC (LSE:GLEN.L) after media sources reported that the companies are limiting the amount of metal released to customers and investors, potentially artificially inflating prices.

The delay in releasing the metal has reportedly contributed to a significant growth in the price of aluminum and other metals. According to media sources, at least one major aluminum consumer has complained to the London Metal Exchange (LME), which sets the minimum amount of metal that warehouse owners must release each day. The LME is reportedly investigating the matter.

Hagens Berman is investigating whether the limits on metal released violate antitrust laws, and whether the warehouse owners’ activities constituted manipulation of the price of aluminum in violation of the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA).

Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time…..