The British Office of Fair Trading is investigating whether De Beers ' Central Selling Organization , which controls 80 percent of world diamond trading , engages in anti- competitive practices . First it has to establish whether it has succeeded , since although CSO is based in London , De Beers is a South African company . Consolidated Gold & PLC , a British mining concern with no gold reserves , filed the complaint as a defensive move against a takeover bid by Luxembourg - owned diamond SA , which is majority - owned by Anglo American Corp of South Africa Ltd and De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd , the gold and diamond mining interests controlled by South Africa 's Oppenheimer family .
The British Office of Fair Trading is investigating whether De Beers' Central Selling Organization, which controls 80 percent of world diamond trading, engages in anti- competitive practices. First it has to establish whether it has jurisdiction, since although CSO is based in London, De Beers is a South African company. Consolidated Gold Fields PLC, a British mining concern with no diamond interests, filed the complaint as a defensive move against a takeover bid by Luxembourg-based Minorco SA, which is majority-owned by Anglo American Corp of South Africa Ltd and De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, the gold and diamond mining interests controlled by South Africa's Oppenheimer family.