Rio Tinto Agrees $15 Million Penalty to Resolve SEC Probe Linked to Simandou Project
March 06 2023 - 5:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Rhiannon Hoyle
Rio Tinto PLC said it agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty
to resolve an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission into payments made to a former consultant who helped the
company acquire rights to massive iron-ore deposits in Guinea.
The world's second-biggest miner by market value said it agreed
to the penalty for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act without admitting to or denying the SEC's
findings.
In 2011, Rio Tinto made $10.5 million in payments to a
consultant who helped the company acquire rights to mine the prized
Simandou iron-ore deposit. In 2016, Rio Tinto fired one of its most
senior operational executives and its head of legal and regulatory
affairs as it notified authorities, including the SEC, and
conducted an internal probe of the payments.
"We are glad to have resolved this matter related to events that
occurred over a decade ago on appropriate and reasonable terms,"
said Dominic Barton, Rio Tinto's chairman. Rio Tinto has taken
"significant actions" since to improve its compliance program, he
said.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 06, 2023 17:22 ET (22:22 GMT)
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