Anglo-Australian multinational Rio Tinto has reached a settlement with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) regarding the disclosure of the impairment of Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique (RTCM), which was reflected in Rio Tinto’s 2012 year-end accounts.

As part of this court-approved settlement, Rio will pay a A$750 000 penalty for a single contravention of its continuous disclosure obligations in the period December 21, 2012, to January 17, 2013, immediately preceding the impairment announcement.

As part of the court-approved settlement between the ASIC and Rio Tinto, there were no findings of fraud or any systemic or widespread failure by Rio, the company says. 

The case against former CEO Tom Albanese and former CFO Guy Elliott has been wholly dismissed, it adds.

Rio settled with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority in 2017 relating to the same RTCM impairment.

A US court also dismissed a related US securities class action, the company points out.

Rio has welcomed the closure of the ASIC case on appropriate and reasonable terms.

“The resolution of this matter, however, does not impact the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) proceedings. Rio will continue to defend itself vigorously against the SEC’s allegations,” it states.

RTCM was acquired in 2011 and divested in 2014.

In February, Rio agreed to pay a penalty for overstating its Mozambique coal reserves in 2012 in return for the ASIC dropping charges against its top two executives at the time, the ASIC said.

The settlement of A$750 000 for a single breach of continuous disclosure obligations, at that point, remained subject to approval by a Federal Court judge.

The ASIC's case related to Rio's reporting of its coal reserves in Mozambique, which it acquired from Riversdale Mining for $3.9-billion in 2011. Two years later, Albanese stepped down as the company wrote off more than $3-billion on the assets, Reuters reported in February.

Hearings in the case against the global miner, Albanese and Elliott had been due to begin on March 1.