I think my reaction to some of the CPQ outcomes is summarised nicely by this title. I shouldn’t be surprised because every process seems to have had some outcomes which one really struggles to comprehend, let alone accept.
If it was an essay writing or best fiction competition that had consumed so many months of our lives and so many livelihoods and futures did not depend on it, I probably would be a lot more relaxed and comfortable about it than is the case.
I bet my view is fairly widely held but doubt whether many will have the balls to publicly agree with me, but it won’t stop me saying what needs to be said both now and into the future.
Nevertheless, as it is the season of goodwill and good cheer, I wish all my faithful readers a very happy Christmas and New Year!
If it was an essay writing or best fiction competition that had consumed so many months of our lives and so many livelihoods and futures did not depend on it, I probably would be a lot more relaxed and comfortable about it than is the case.
I bet my view is fairly widely held but doubt whether many will have the balls to publicly agree with me, but it won’t stop me saying what needs to be said both now and into the future.
Nevertheless, as it is the season of goodwill and good cheer, I wish all my faithful readers a very happy Christmas and New Year!
3 comments:
Dear Mark –
You are not alone and there others who don’t hesitate to speak up – though not as courageously and eloquently as you do. Please allow me to quote from my editorial of December 22, 2011.
“Most diamantaires are not sons or daughters of William Shakespeare or Mark Twain. In an industry where most clients are not native English speakers, writing skills have become a major factor in the sight allocation process. That being said, the problem is mainly in the [faulty] assessment process.”
And, in a different context, I wrote:
“And how does this keep with De Beers’ heralded Best Practice Principles? Let’s not kid ourselves. Best Practice Principles have apparently been thrown overboard. It seems that De Beers has adopted a very broad vision on tolerance, probably out of fear of legal repercussions. Today, it clearly doesn’t matter that a principal of a sightholder company is serving time – of course, he is not involved in management. (How could he be?)
But it also doesn’t seem to matter to De Beers when a sightholder company has a number of workers in jail convicted of smuggling in the Far East, or if a company clearly doesn’t have the money to purchase boxes and, instead, becomes mainly a “straw-man,” a “front” if you wish, passing on the sight to the financier. Quite a few boxes are presold for long periods ahead of DTC sights at a fixed premium. None of this is reflected in the DTC’s Contract Proposal Questionnaires (CPQs) for sight applicants, which asks them for information about their diamond business and rough diamond supply requirements.”
“While one can understand the DTC’s reluctance to take action against blatant BPP violations during a contract period because this invariably leads to a legal mess, it is puzzling that these contracts are now going to be renewed or even reinstated.”
Mark - the DTC has a chance to do something about it. As I wrote:
“In its press release announcing the new list, the DTC states that “all applicants are required to confirm their adherence to the De Beers Best Practice Principles, ensuring that, like all companies within the De Beers Group, Sightholders are ‘living up to diamonds’ by adopting the highest ethical standards in their business practices.” All names announced so far are “provisional” as prior to confirming the offer of a DTC supply contract, all newly qualified applicants will have their CPQ’s verified by a third party."
"That verification process is, by itself, quite problematic as those parties doing verification (Kroll and others) have their hands tied and may only be related to specific issues. But that’s the way it is.”
“The real test for DTC Chief Executive Officer Varda Shine and her team will be whether they will avail themselves of the legal option to verify the CPQs of the returning existing sightholders. In the new contract period, De Beers has a controlling shareholder, Anglo American, which will need to satisfy itself that it will not be hit by reputational and good governance problems because of De Beers.”
Mark – I just completed reading the 163-page LKI complaint against the Antwerp Diamond Bank, which basically charges DTC Sightholder Erez Dalyot with allegedly stealing $135 million through a myriad of some 19 alleged (and clearly named) laundering companies and individuals. Both Erez Dalyot (with partners) and LKI are now again awarded sightholder status in Botswana – in a process that didn’t feel, for example, Rosy Blue to be good enough for Botswana.
Warm regards and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2012,
Chaim Even-Zohar
Quotes from Diamond Intelligence Briefs, 22 December 2011 | Vol.26 No.689
Yes, Chaim, you are quite right.
Mark
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