The British Office of Fair Trading is investigating whether De Beers' Central Selling Organization, which controls 60.1 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.
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.