8chan/8kun QResearch Posts (6)
#19461946 at 2023-08-30 20:52:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #23902: Trump Truth Tape Triumph Edition
ULEZ: 'MOTs should give you the right to drive!' | Sadiq Khan slammed by Drivers' AllIance Director
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5,376 views 30 Aug 2023 #ulez #sadiqkhan #uknews
Ian Taylor, director of the AllIance of British Drivers, criticises Sadiq Khan's expansion of ULEZ across outer London as protests continue.
#ulez #sadiqkhan #uknews #politics
#12995766 at 2021-02-19 05:25:12 (UTC+1)
QRG #16553: Hope this Still Works Edition
>>12995757
Board of Directors
Chair
Sally Talberg - Unaffiliated
Vice Chair
Peter Cramton - Unaffiliated
Board Members
Vanessa Anesetti-Parra - Independent Retail Electric Provider Segment
Terry Bulger - Unaffiliated
Mark Carpenter - Investor-Owned Utility Segment
Lori Cobos - Consumer - Residential Segment - Ex Officio
Keith Emery - Independent Power Marketer Segment
Nick Fehrenbach - Consumer - Commercial Segment
Kevin Gresham - Independent Generator Segment
Sam Harper - Consumer - Industrial Segment
Raymond Hepper - Unaffiliated
Clifton Karnei - Cooperative Segment
Jacqueline A. Sargent, M.S., P.E. - Municipal Segment
DeAnn T. Walker - PUCT Chairman - Non-Voting - Ex Officio
Vacant - Unaffiliated
Segment Alternates
Kevin Bunch - Independent Power Marketer Segment
Mike Kezar - Cooperative Segment
Glen Lyons - Consumer - Industrial Segment
Randal Miller - Independent Retail Electric Provider Segment
Jennifer Richie - Consumer - Commercial Segment
Steven Schleimer - Independent Generator Segment
Wade Smith - Investor-Owned Utility Segment
Ian Taylor - Municipal Segment
#10728087 at 2020-09-21 04:02:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13730
The FinCEN files: Dirty little secrets of the world's banks revealed in mass US government leak
Ian Taylor sells high-end jet skis from his four-bedroom waterfront townhouse in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac on the Gold Coast.
Key points:
A leak of highly secretive US Treasury documents reveals the world's banks alerted watchdogs to about $US2 trillion ($2.7 trillion) worth of suspicious transactions in seven years
The documents were obtained by Buzzfeed News and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Ian Taylor is just one of the AustralIans mentioned by name in the leaked suspicious activity reports
What the 43-year-old does not advertise is that his other source of income has come from setting up shell companies, which have been used by money launderers, arms dealers and Mexican drug cartels.
His business allowed customers to hide their true identity by providing nominee directors and shareholders to obscure who was really behind the shell company.
These directors and shareholders included his current and former wives, friends, associates and residents of tax-haven countries.
"Often the shell companies are used simply to open up bank accounts in other parts of the world," says Gerard Ryle, the director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
What Mr Taylor did is not illegal, but some of the companies he helped set up, under the control of third parties, have been tied to crimes around the world.
"He's never been able to be stopped because he's never actually done anything illegal," Ryle says.
"There is a flaw in the system ... he's driving a bulldozer through that flaw."
Mr Taylor is just one of the AustralIans mentioned in a leak of highly secret United States Treasury documents.
A man in front of the water with a blurred out picture of a little girl.
Ian Taylor now sells jet skis and lives with his family on the Gold Coast.(Supplied)
These documents reveal the world's biggest banks have defied money-laundering crackdowns by moving staggering sums of illicit cash for criminal networks and shadowy characters.
The leaked files show more than $US2 trillion ($2.7 trillion) in suspected dirty money moving through the global financial system.
That includes more than $200 million in transactions flowing through AustralIan banks.
The records show five global banks - JPMorgan, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon - kept profiting from powerful and dangerous players, even after US authorities fined these financial institutions for earlier failures to stem flows of dirty money.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-21/leaked-fincen-files-reveal-international-banks-dirty-secrets/12673318
#10724005 at 2020-09-20 20:36:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13725: Running Red Answers Corruption Edition
The FinCEN files: Dirty little secrets of the world's banks revealed in mass US government leak
Ian Taylor sells high-end jet skis from his four-bedroom waterfront townhouse in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac on the Gold Coast.
Key points:
A leak of highly secretive US Treasury documents reveals the world's banks alerted watchdogs to about $US2 trillion ($2.7 trillion) worth of suspicious transactions in seven years
The documents were obtained by Buzzfeed News and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Ian Taylor is just one of the AustralIans mentioned by name in the leaked suspicious activity reports
What the 43-year-old does not advertise is that his other source of income has come from setting up shell companies, which have been used by money launderers, arms dealers and Mexican drug cartels.
His business allowed customers to hide their true identity by providing nominee directors and shareholders to obscure who was really behind the shell company.
These directors and shareholders included his current and former wives, friends, associates and residents of tax-haven countries.
"Often the shell companies are used simply to open up bank accounts in other parts of the world," says Gerard Ryle, the director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
What Mr Taylor did is not illegal, but some of the companies he helped set up, under the control of third parties, have been tied to crimes around the world.
"He's never been able to be stopped because he's never actually done anything illegal," Ryle says.
"There is a flaw in the system ... he's driving a bulldozer through that flaw."
Mr Taylor is just one of the AustralIans mentioned in a leak of highly secret United States Treasury documents.
How banks help criminals get rich
Collage of money.
Background Briefing shows how terrorists and mobsters smuggle staggering sums of money through some of the world's largest banks - and often get away with it.
Read more
These documents reveal the world's biggest banks have defied money-laundering crackdowns by moving staggering sums of illicit cash for criminal networks and shadowy characters.
The leaked files show more than $US2 trillion ($2.7 trillion) in suspected dirty money moving through the global financial system.
That includes more than $200 million in transactions flowing through AustralIan banks.
The records show five global banks - JPMorgan, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon - kept profiting from powerful and dangerous players, even after US authorities fined these financial institutions for earlier failures to stem flows of dirty money.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-21/leaked-fincen-files-reveal-international-banks-dirty-secrets/12673318
Part 1
#7791514 at 2020-01-12 14:32:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #9972: Comfy In Thy Morning Bread Edition
>>7791328
>>7791367
Now why would a tiny country that consumes very little oil be home to the 3 largest oil traders in the world?
(2012 article but relevant)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/swiss-oil-trader-buys-iranIan-fuel-sells-to-china-bypassing-sanctions-31046
Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, is buying and selling IranIan fuel oil, undermining Western efforts to choke the flow of petrodollars to Tehran and put pressure on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
Vitol last month bought 2 million barrels of fuel oil, used for power generation, from Iran and offered it to Chinese traders, Reuters established in interviews with 10 oil trading, industry and shipping sources in Southeast Asia, China and the Middle East. A spokesman for Vitol declined to comment.
Privately-held Vitol SA is led by its long-time CEO Ian Taylor, a Briton. Taylor was among leading donors to Britain's ruling Conservative Party named in March by the Prime Minister's office as having dined with David Cameron at his private apartment in Downing Street amid the fall-out from a "cash for access" party funding scandal.
Rival Swiss-based traders Glencore and Trafigura said in July they had halted all IranIan oil trade, even though the Swiss government opted against following measures imposed by Washington and Brussels.
Profit margins on oil trade are typically very low, but traders said Iran's difficulties in finding buyers because of sanctions are likely to have made for a fat profit margin for trading its fuel oil.
#4336530 at 2018-12-16 19:19:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #5526: Golf Course Edition
'American System is Desperate for an Enemy' - Scholar on Bolton's Accusations
US National Security Advisor John Bolton in a speech unveiled the US strategy to counter Chinese and RussIan influence in Africa. He accused Moscow and Beijing of deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage over the US.
The American official claimed that China was using bribes, opaque agreements and the strategic use of debt to hold states in Africa captive to Beijing's wishes and demands. In addition, Bolton announced a new program, "Prosper Africa", to support American investment across the continent and provide alternatives to Chinese projects.
Radio Sputnik has discussed this new plan with Ian Taylor, a professor in International Relations and African Political Economy at the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland.
Sputnik: What do you make of the timing of Mr Bolton accusing Russia and China and announcing the new American programme in the region?
Ian Taylor: John Bolton is a kind of a hard-core realist who sees everything in terms of geopolitics and grand strategy. His type of approach to the continent is part of the course with somebody like him. It is rather curious though that they are lumping Russia and China together as being some sort of strategic threat to American interests in Africa, given that Russia itself, its investments in the continent and its political profile is much less than that of China. So, the coherency of the approach is problematic from the start.
Sputnik: In what way can these statements impact the already strained relations between Washington and Beijing?
Ian Taylor: The American system, the military-industrial complex, or whatever you want to call it, is absolutely desperate for an enemy. It needs enemies, it needs targeted opponents - Russia has been playing that role. Everything that happens in the world today seems to be you know whether it is football results or poor weather, is the fault of Russia. China is now being lumped together as well.
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201812151070700586-us-china-russia-influence/
8chan/8kun QResearch NEW ZEALAND Posts (1)
#10268628 at 2020-08-13 00:57:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research New Zealand #4
Absolute insanity. "Sam Morgan and Ian Taylor say……. " who gives a shit. Crimes against humanity, media is complicit.
8chan/8kun QResearch SOUTH AFRICA Posts (5)
#19335808 at 2023-08-10 21:31:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research South Africa #11: Diamonds, Gold, and War Edition
>>19335788
>Ivor joined Idasa (The Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa) in 1990, and served as managing director of Idasa's national office from 1996-2013. Ivor spearheaded Idasa's expansion into more than 35 countries on the African continent, promoting democratic values as well as good governance practices.
>>19227479
>"George Soros and South Africa's transition from Apartheid to Robbery Capitalism"
>IDASA
Adding more detail from the article.
Idasa
https://hannenabintuherland.com/mideast/george-soros-and-south-africas-transition-from-apartheid-to-robbery-capitalism/
As Ian Taylor reports, "[o]ne of the most active groups within the change industry" in South Africa was the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa - a group that later became known as the Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
The cofounders of this Institute, van Zyl Slabbert and Alex Boraine, represented what might be considered the "compassionate face of liberalism," and prior to setting up their Institute (in 1986), both been part of the "corporate-funded Progressive Federal Party, an organisation that 'bore the Oppenheimer imprint from the start'." (4)
What has occurred in such contentious transitions (such as South Africa) has been an attempt to construct hegemony via a reformulation of the mode of political rule: from the overtly coercive (such as apartheid) to a more consensual-based order. The result has been to pre-empt fundamental economic changes that may arise through any popular alternatives and instead, preserve the extant economic structures, albeit with necessary changes that incorporate fractions of the new emerging elite.
Co-option of the democratisation movement into the structures of polyarchical democracy performs this task. Such an arrangement is the political counterpart to neo-liberalism, with the 'visible hand of the voter' working alongside the mythical meta-physical 'market'."
-Ian Taylor, 2002. (2)
Despite their elite backgrounds, Slabbert and Boraine had initially failed to garner foreign support from the US leading liberal foundations, and it was only when they were introduced to George Soros, who immediately decided to support their venture, that the equally well-endowed American foundations reconsidered working with them. Slabbert recalled:
"We wanted $150,000 and he signed a cheque of $75,000. In the lift, Boraine and I passed the cheques to and fro in disbelief. Soros did not ask for any guarantee and said, in passing, that we could send him a report if we wished. We obtained the rest of the money from the ever-reliable ScandinavIans and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung."(5)
From that day on, the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) became a favored recipient of foreign aid, obtaining lucrative grants from bodies like the US Agency for International Development, and smaller albeit important funding from organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
South Africa's transition from Apartheid to Robbery Capitalism: Little surprise then that this mediating organization, IDASA, played a key role in smoothing the transition from apartheid, and indeed...
"...the dissemination of ideology in favour of the neo-liberal project has continued unabated in the post-apartheid era. In this period, IDASA has advanced ideas that seem to propagate the notion that keeping the people away from the real levers of power i.e. the economy, is a "good thing." (6)
Illustrative of the tight connections maintained by IDASA and liberal elites, in 1996 the then head of the Institute, Wilmot James, became a trustee of the Ford Foundation (a position he retained until 2008); likewise IDASA's current chair, Njabulo Ndebele, is a former resident scholar at the Ford Foundation.
Ndebele is also a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation where he serves alongside current Open Society Foundation of South Africa board member (and former Rockefeller Foundation trustee) Mamphela Ramphele. (7)
Former board member of the Open Society Foundation of South Africa, Khehla Shubane, helped establish the Nelson Mandela Foundation, while also serving as the CEO of Business Map Foundation - a "research institution focusing on black economic empowerment and monitoring foreign investment patterns." (8)
The Open Society Foundation of South Africa happens to be another of George Soros's polyarchal ventures, and Soros recruited Slabbert to become the founding chair of this organization when it was founded in 1993.
#19227479 at 2023-07-23 15:37:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research South Africa #11: Diamonds, Gold, and War Edition
>>19227442
>George Soros
>Malcolm X
What has Malcolm X and Steve Biko have in common? They both spoke against the liberal establishment and they both were murdered while the 'heroes' of the struggle have survived.
Take note
George Soros began his philanthropy in 1979, giving scholarships to Black South Africans under apartheid. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/george-soros
1994
Nurturing Democracy and Addressing Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa
As apartheid falls, the Open Society Foundations office in South Africa focuses on addressing injustices-and creating opportunities-in a country that has systematically discriminated against the majority of its citizens for decades. The Open Society Foundations spend more than $150 million in South Africa over the next 25 years to support reconciliation, legal reform, education, public health, and independent media. George Soros makes a separate pledge in 1995 of $50 million to help the government build housing for people living in makeshift shacks and overcrowded city dwellings.
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are/our-history
"George Soros and South Africa's transition from Apartheid to Robbery Capitalism" 1 of 2
https://hannenabintuherland.com/mideast/george-soros-and-south-africas-transition-from-apartheid-to-robbery-capitalism/
March 14, 2022
Below are excerpts
South Africa's transition from Apartheid to Robbery Capitalism: South Africa's transition from apartheid to polyarchy provides a devastating example of the power of capitalism to penetrate and dismantle a vibrant movement demanding massive social change and effectively harmonize them into a neoliberal social order.
As Ian Taylor reports, "[o]ne of the most active groups within the change industry" in South Africa was the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa - a group that later became known as the Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
The cofounders of this Institute, van Zyl Slabbert and Alex Boraine, represented what might be considered the "compassionate face of liberalism," and prior to setting up their Institute (in 1986), both been part of the "corporate-funded Progressive Federal Party, an organisation that 'bore the Oppenheimer imprint from the start'." (4)
Despite their elite backgrounds, Slabbert and Boraine had initially failed to garner foreign support from the US leading liberal foundations, and it was only when they were introduced to George Soros, who immediately decided to support their venture, that the equally well-endowed American foundations reconsidered working with them. Slabbert recalled:
"We wanted $150,000 and he signed a cheque of $75,000. In the lift, Boraine and I passed the cheques to and fro in disbelief. Soros did not ask for any guarantee and said, in passing, that we could send him a report if we wished. We obtained the rest of the money from the ever-reliable ScandinavIans and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung."(5)
IDASA's current chair, Njabulo Ndebele, is a former resident scholar at the Ford Foundation.
Ndebele is also a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation where he serves alongside current Open Society Foundation of South Africa board member (and former Rockefeller Foundation trustee) Mamphela Ramphele. (7)
Former board member of the Open Society Foundation of South Africa, Khehla Shubane, helped establish the Nelson Mandela Foundation, while also serving as the CEO of Business Map Foundation - a "research institution focusing on black economic empowerment and monitoring foreign investment patterns." (8)
Since it was formed in 1995 "with core funding from South African businesses," the Centre for Development and Enterprise has been headed by Ann Bernstein, who had previously served as the executive director of the Urban Foundation from 1989 until its demise in 1995. [With Anglo-American's Harry Oppenheimer as chairperson, and the doyen of Afrikaans business, Anton Rupert, as deputy, the U F (Urban Foundation) began operating early in 1977... Its initial finances came almost exclusively from the local business community, the biggest piece coming from Anglo-American itself. http://www.transformationjournal.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/trans018-019006.pdf]
More recently, from 2005 until 2006, Berstein served as a Reagan Fascell Democracy Fellow at the NED. Given the openly pro-corporate polyarchal agenda of Berstein's Centre it is intriguing to note that their board of directors includes Ishmael Mkhabela.
#16499681 at 2022-06-24 13:21:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research South Africa #7: "TRUTH cannot be hidden forever" Edition
>>16444741
>It has become a clich? to describe Glencore, Vitol, Cargill and the handful of other major companies that trade oil, metals and food as shadowy, secretive and deceptively powerful.
>When rebels in Libya ran out of fuel in 2011, and when Cuba needed oil in the early 1990s, long-term Vitol boss Ian Taylor personally negotiated a fresh supply.
"Commodities trading houses help keep RussIan oil flowing"
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/commodities-trading-houses-help-keep-russIan-oil-flowing-2022-03-25/
March 28, 2022
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 25 (Reuters) - Commodities traders such as Trafigura and Vitol have helped keep Russia's oil flowing through its Baltic and Black Sea ports in March, when some Western firms started to snub the market, according to ship tracking, traders and shipping sources.
Both Swiss-based trading houses have long-term deals with state-run RussIan oil gIant Rosneft (ROSN.MM) to load crude under agreements struck before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine triggered a wave of Western sanctions this month.
So far in March, the two companies combined have loaded 22 cargoes of Urals crude, equivalent to 2.32 million tonnes of oil or 16.7 million barrels, according to Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking data and sources. They shipped 1.84 million tonnes in February and 1.80 million in January.
The bulk of the oil the two companies buy comes from Rosneft, though a large chunk of the crude Vitol handles via RussIan ports comes from Kazakh producers.
Other Swiss-based traders Glencore (GLEN.L), Gunvor and Petraco loaded RussIan crude in March, though the volumes they took were slightly lower than in previous months, according to shipping data and information from traders.
Vitol's 10 cargoes is on a par with February and January and broadly in line with an average of 9.6 since its deal with Rosneft started in October. Its monthly average for the first nine months of 2021 was 5.1 cargoes.
Trafigura and Vitol told Reuters they were fulfilling existing contracts and had not struck any new deals for RussIan oil since the Ukraine conflict, which Moscow calls a special operation, started on Feb. 24. They did not comment on the volumes of RussIan oil they have been buying.
While the long-term contracts are not public, three sources told Reuters that Trafigura has a deal running at least until next year while Vitol's runs until at least October this year. The sources said the contracts gave the companies plenty of flexibility on how much oil they can buy each month.
Deals for April are still being struck but so far Trafigura has lined up eight cargoes for the first 10 days of the month and Vitol has six. The companies are also offering RussIan oil known as ESPO Blend, which is exported via AsIan ports, in May.
The European Union banned transactions with several RussIan energy companies including Rosneft on March 15. However, Brussels gave a two-month wind-down period for contracts already agreed and excluded purchases that were "strictly necessary".
Big Western oil companies TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), Shell and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) - as well as Finland's Neste (NESTE.HE) - all loaded cargoes of RussIan oil in March.
Most were early in the month and ordered before prior to the invasion, though Britain's Shell snapped up a heavily discounted cargo of RussIan oil from Trafigura on March 4. Shell had pledged a few days earlier to end its operations in Russia and later apologised for the trade after a hail of criticism.
#16444848 at 2022-06-14 15:04:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research South Africa #7: "TRUTH cannot be hidden forever" Edition
"How Commodity Traders Came To Run The World" (1 of 3)
https://slman.com/life/how-commodity-traders-came-run-world
06-04-2021
Together with his colleague Javier Blas, Bloomberg News journalist Jack Farchy has dug deeper into the closed world of commodity trading than anyone has gone before. Speaking to people who tend to remain tight lipped, they have uncovered a high-risk, high-reward business that explains how the global economy really works. Jack told Tobias Gourlay what they've found so far...
What inspired you to jump into the murky waters of commodities trading, Jack?
Javier and I were both journalists covering natural resources for the Financial Times, and we kept finding ourselves gobsmacked by the importance of a very small group of commodity trading companies, and equally surprised by how little anyone seemed to know about them. We wanted to learn more, but realised that almost no books had been written about them. That's when we realised we'd have to go out there and get the story ourselves.
Tell us more about the importance of those companies...
Within those companies, there are a few individuals who have played a huge role in shaping our modern world. The story we discovered was one of how money and power interact in ways that most people don't understand. Commodity traders have been growing in importance from the end of the Second World War through to the present day. They have shaped history along the way, playing a role in everything from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the rise of China.
How much of this was uncharted territory?
So much of the world of commodity traders is secretive, so a lot of what we found hasn't been reported before. We spoke to more than 100 traders, many of whom have rarely if ever spoken in public before. Among other things, we discovered how American teachers' pension savings went to fund an oil war in Iraq, with a little help from the world's largest commodity trader; and we also found that the three largest commodity traders (which, because they are private companies, don't have to publish accounts) made more money in the first decade of the 2000s than either Apple or Coca-Cola.
What was the discovery that surprised you the most?
It was a surprise to hear people talking quite openly about bribery as if it was just another business expense. This is not just something that happened many years ago - the world's largest oil trading company, Vitol, admitted to paying bribes in Latin America as recently as July 2020. And we were genuinely shocked to discover that in Switzerland, paying bribes to foreign companies was not only legal but also tax deductible until as recently as 2016.
What gives commodity traders their influence?
Commodities mean money, and money means power - it's as simple as that. As the companies who can turn commodities into cash for resource-rich governments or individuals, the traders get very close to power. And sometimes they influence it. Take the example of Vitol in the Libyan civil war of 2011. The Arab Spring was sweeping through the Middle East, and in Libya there was an uprising against the dictatorship of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. But the rebels had a problem - they didn't have enough fuel. Gaddafi controlled all the refineries. Then Ian Taylor, the boss of Vitol, flew in to Benghazi and agreed to supply the rebels with $1bn of fuel - and it wouldn't need to be paid for until after the war had been won. There's little doubt that Vitol's intervention altered the course of the conflict.
#16444741 at 2022-06-14 14:40:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research South Africa #7: "TRUTH cannot be hidden forever" Edition
"Breakingviews - Review: The wild history of the commodities boys" (1 of 2)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-commodities-breakingviews-idUSKBN2AQ1YL
February 26, 2021
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Javier Blas and Jack Farchy should be awaiting the call from Hollywood. "The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources" contains at least half a dozen narrative threads that would form the basis of a good thriller. But the authors' main achievement is to subject the biggest commodity players, and their impact on the real world, to proper critical scrutiny.
It has become a clich? to describe Glencore, Vitol, Cargill and the handful of other major companies that trade oil, metals and food as shadowy, secretive and deceptively powerful. Even so, it's not always apparent just how large they are. The five largest oil traders handle a quarter of the world's daily demand for petroleum while the seven top agricultural traders process nearly half of the world's grains and oilseeds. In 2019 the five largest trading companies had a combined turnover of $865 billion.
This kind of financial heft has made them political players of serious consequence. When Jamaica ran out of cash to pay for its 300,000 barrels a month of oil in the early 1980s, Energy Minister Hugh Hart's only option to avoid riots on the streets was to call Marc Rich. The founder of the eponymous trading firm that eventually became Glencore delivered the oil within 24 hours. When rebels in Libya ran out of fuel in 2011, and when Cuba needed oil in the early 1990s, long-term Vitol boss Ian Taylor personally negotiated a fresh supply.
The striking aspect of these stories is how much risk the traders were taking. The Libyan rebels had no money, so had to pay for refined oil with their own crude, which dried up when government forces blew up a pipeline. When Cuba struggled to make payments to Vitol in the form of sugar, the country invited the trader to help develop domestic hotels. Such bets were ultimately shrewd: delivering for desperate clients meant charging fat fees and commanding their long-term gratitude. But the deals could also have threatened Vitol's survival.
All of which engenders some respect for trader chutzpah. There's also an enticing, spy novel feel to some of the goings-on, amplified by the occasional need to speak about countries subject to sanctions in code. Crude Number Three, for example, referred to illicit IranIan oil. Rich handled this via a bogus middleman from Burundi called Monsieur Ndolo, who was actually one of his own traders.
Still, the beneficiaries of the go-anywhere, do-anything mentality were not just plucky rebels. In a telling comment before he died in 2013, Rich professed his dislike of South Africa's Apartheid policy, but he supplied the racist pariah state regardless. Glencore sold oil it had mixed with cheaper varIants to Romania. In 2006, Trafigura paid an inadequate middleman to dispose of toxic waste on an open pit in Ivory Coast, causing a local health emergency.
Alongside their moral shortcomings, the traders also suffered from hubris. Rich, feeling U.S. outrage over his Iran oil trades, lost $172 million betting on zinc. Bermuda-based oil trader John Deuss lost $600 million in a failed attempt to corner the North Sea market. According to Blas and Farchy's sources, even relatively restrained American agri-trader Cargill riskily shorted oil in 2008 and 2009, making a $1 billion profit.