By Jeffrey T. Lewis

SÃO PAULO--Vale SA settled a lawsuit filed last year by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for making false and misleading claims about the safety of the Brazilian iron miner's dams before the collapse in January 2019 of the tailings dam in the town of Brumadinho.

Vale agreed to pay the SEC $55.9 million to settle the suit without admitting or denying the claims made by the market regulator, the company said Tuesday evening. In return, the SEC won't oppose Vale's motion to reject all allegations the iron ore miner acted with fraudulent or reckless intent regarding the company's communications, Vale said.

The dam's collapse at Brumadinho sent a wave of mud crashing over adjacent Vale facilities and into the nearby town, claiming 270 lives, many of them Vale employees working nearby.

The SEC filed the suit in April 2022, alleging that Vale had manipulated safety audits and obtained fraudulent stability certificates. The SEC also alleged when it filed the suit that Vale was for years aware that the Brumadinho dam didn't meet dam-safety standards.

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 29, 2023 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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