The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has formally dismissed its civil lawsuit against a former top executive of Rio Tinto, bringing an end to an enforcement case that has lingered for more than eight years. The decision closes one of the regulator’s most closely watched fraud cases tied to a failed multibillion-dollar investment in Mozambique.
In a filing submitted Friday in Manhattan federal court, the SEC said it was ending its lawsuit against Guy Elliott, who served as the company’s chief financial officer during the period under review. The agency said it acted “in the exercise of its discretion,” and did not address the merits of its remaining allegations against Elliott.
The dismissal follows years of litigation over Rio Tinto’s acquisition of Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique, a coal business the mining giant bought in 2011 for $3.7 billion through its takeover of Riversdale Mining. The SEC had argued that senior executives misled investors about the true value of the assets as problems mounted.
Elliott has consistently denied any wrongdoing. In a joint statement, his lawyers described the outcome as a complete victory for the defense. The SEC declined to comment on the decision.
Asset write-downs, investor losses, and enforcement limits
The case stemmed from allegations filed by the SEC in 2017. Regulators accused Rio Tinto of overstating the value of its Mozambique coal assets while raising more than $5.5 billion from U.S. fixed-income investors. According to the SEC, internal assessments showed the assets were worth negative $680 million after Mozambique’s government rejected the company’s plan to transport coal by barge.
Despite those internal conclusions, the SEC said Rio Tinto continued to present a far more optimistic picture to investors. The company ultimately recorded a writedown exceeding $3 billion in 2013. One year later, it sold the Mozambique assets for just $50 million.
While the SEC has now stepped away from its case against Elliott, the broader enforcement action produced penalties in earlier stages. In 2023, Rio Tinto agreed to pay a $28 million civil fine, and former chief executive Tom Albanese accepted a $50,000 penalty to resolve related claims.
As recently as last year, the case appeared headed for trial. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres had rejected Elliott’s effort to dismiss remaining claims, finding that factual disputes over accounting disclosures and auditor communications should be decided by a jury. The SEC’s decision to abandon the case now highlights the challenges regulators face when pursuing complex securities fraud allegations against individual executives.
The dismissal comes as Rio Tinto weighs strategic changes elsewhere. The company confirmed this week that it is in early merger talks with rival Glencore, a deal that could reshape the global mining industry.
For investors and regulators, the outcome underscores a recurring tension in securities enforcement. Even when companies pay fines and acknowledge disclosure failures, holding individual executives accountable through lengthy litigation remains difficult. The Rio Tinto case now stands as a reminder of both the reach — and the limits — of SEC enforcement in complex, cross-border corporate disclosures.