The SEC stated: "Vale, one of the world's largest iron ore producers, deceived investors concerning the safety and stability of dams that it built to hold waste from its mining operations. While taking full of advantage of the capital markets in the United States, Vale committed securities fraud by intentionally concealing the risks that one of its older and more dangerous dams, the Bnunadinho dam, might collapse. Specifically, Vale (1) improperly obtained stability declarations for the dam by knowingly using unreliable laborato1y data; (2) concealed material info1mation from its dam safety auditors; (3) disregarded accepted best practices and minimum safety standards; ( 4) removed auditors and fnms who threatened Vale 's ability to obtain dam stability declarations; and (5) made false and misleading statements to investors."

The SEC stated that: "[It] charged Vale S.A., a publicly traded Brazilian mining company and one of the world’s largest iron ore producers, with making false and misleading claims about the safety of its dams prior to the January 2019 collapse of its Brumadinho dam. The collapse killed 270 people, caused immeasurable environmental and social harm, and led to a loss of more than$4 billion in Vale’s market capitalization."

On April 11, 2023, the Court issued a final judgment as to Defendant Vale S.A., stating: "Defendant Vale S.A. (“Defendant” or “Vale”) . . . consented to entry of this Final Judgment without admitting or denying the allegations of the Settled Claims, as that term is defined in the Consent which is incorporated herein, of the Complaint (except as to jurisdiction); waived findings of fact and conclusions of law; and waived any right to appeal from this Final Judgment."