SEC to Drop Long-Running Fraud Case Against Ex-Rio Tinto CFO over African Coal Assets

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is dropping a fraud lawsuit against former Rio Tinto Ltd. chief financial officer Guy Elliott, eight years after accusing him and others of inflating the value of African coal assets the company acquired in a disastrous 2011 deal.

Lawyers for the SEC and Elliott jointly asked a federal judge in New York to end the case, according to a filing Friday. The agency didn’t elaborate on its decision except to say it was “in the exercise of its discretion.” Elliott’s attorneys called the dismissal “a complete vindication,” according to a statement.