LONDON: Rio Tinto has settled a lawsuit with the SEC over its disclosure of the value of Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique (RTCM) in its 2012 financial statements. The SEC had accused Rio Tinto of violating its accounting and reporting rules related to the impairment of RTCM, which Rio Tinto bought in 2011 and sold in 2014.
Rio Tinto agreed to pay a US$28 million fine and hire an independent consultant to review its policies, procedures, and controls for impairment, disclosures and project risk. Rio Tinto did not admit or deny the SEC’s allegations.
Former CEO Tom Albanese also settled with the SEC and agreed to pay a US$50,000 fine. He also did not admit or deny the SEC’s allegations.
Rio Tinto said it was pleased to close the SEC case on reasonable terms.
This settlement ends all investigations of Rio Tinto regarding this matter. Rio Tinto had previously settled similar claims by the Australian and UK regulators in 2022 and 2017 respectively. A US court had also dismissed a related class action lawsuit in 2019, which was upheld by an appeals court.
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