US Samarco Class Action settled

BHP has reached an agreement to settle the class action complaint filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of American Depositary Receipts of BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc between 25 September 2014 and 30 November 2015¹ in relation to the Samarco dam failure on 5 November 2015.  Under the terms of the agreement, BHP has agreed to pay the plaintiffs US$50 million, with no admission of liability. The agreement is subject to approval by the District Court.

Governance Agreement ratified

On 25 June 2018, BHP announced that various parties² had entered into a Governance Agreement which settles the BRL20 billion Civil Claim, enhances community participation in decisions related to the remediation and compensation programs under the Framework Agreement (Programs), and establishes a process to renegotiate those Programs over two years and to progress settlement of the BRL155 billion Civil Claim.

On 8 August 2018, the 12th Federal Court of Minas Gerais formally ratified the Governance Agreement.

¹ In August 2017, the District Court dismissed the claims in part, including the claims against current and former executive officers and directors.
² The parties the Governance Agreement include Samarco Mineração S.A., Vale S.A., BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda, the Federal Government of Brazil, the Brazilian states of Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais, the Public Prosecutors Office, the Public Defense Office and other public authorities.