Deloitte served as Glencore plc’s auditor during the commodity downturn in 2015/2016 including supporting their debt reduction plan through the audit process, and transactional support services.

Glencore plc is one of the world’s largest diversified, vertically integrated producers, processors and marketers of natural commodities, headquartered in Switzerland. Deloitte has served as Glencore’s auditor since its Initial Public Offering in 2011. In 2015/2016, in response to declining commodity prices and investor concerns, Glencore initiated a debt reduction and capital preservation plan which included a capital raising, asset sales, precious metal streaming transactions and capex reductions.

Our deep knowledge of the client’s business enabled us to support the company through this challenging period by focusing the audit effort on the debt reduction plan, including reviewing complex transactions and the associated accounting. Deloitte also provided vendor due diligence and transactional support, assisting in the timely sale of certain assets by utilising our historical knowledge of the business to support management’s efforts.

We provided assurance to management, the board and investors over the financial performance and position of Glencore, which included consideration of the accounting impacts of the various debt reduction measures, amongst them several highly complex transactions.

“Deloitte as our auditor provided both the assurance to management and the board in relation to our financial statements, but also were able to assist with our debt reduction plan. They provided first-rate advice leveraging their knowledge of our business and our working style through the entire process and were always on hand at short notice to support us.”

Steven Kalmin, CFO, Glencore plc

J. Safra Sarasin Group, as a family-owned private bank, acts as a proactive consolidator in the private banking market. The Group, present in more than 25 locations worldwide, continues to seek appropriate locations to best serve its clients and execute its growth strategy. Each of the Group’s entities receives, generates, processes and stores data in their day-to-day operations, thereby gathering massive amounts of available data that often remains untapped.

We have audited J. Safra Sarasin Group since 2013 and continually extend the scope of our services. Shifting from being compliance-focused to becoming creator of high-value services and support, we are using new, innovative approaches and technologies. The analytic tools we deploy allow the interpretation and communication of meaningful data, transforming the way we audit the Group. In addition to our regular audit, we also leverage the tools to map the Group’s clients, outline their risk profiles and shed light on how the Group serves them globally, as well as capture potential new business opportunities. These analytic tools not only support our financial audits, but also offer innovative ways to revolutionise regulatory assurance in many areas. As an example, to aid J. Safra Sarasin Group to further comprehend the bigger picture and get near real-time overviews on cross-border business or suitability elements, we implemented a tool that reveals patterns, trends and outliers in these areas.

The implementation and use of various analytic tools allowed us to create many insights and to bring further value to the governing bodies.

“Today’s increasingly complex regulatory environment requires that the audit be more dynamic and insightful.”

Ilan Hayim, Chairman of the Board, Bank J. Safra Sarasin Ltd

“Deloitte has demonstrated their expertise, providing us with further insightful added value, while continuing to deliver quality regulatory audits.”

Marcelo Szerman, Chief Operating Officer, Bank J. Safra Sarasin Ltd