Five former Glencore oil traders have been charged in the UK in connection with a West African bribery case.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said Alex Beard, Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga and Martin Wakefield have been charged with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit the commodities giant’s oil operations in West Africa.

Beard ran Glencore’s oil division from 2007 until he retired in 2019.