Welcome to the BHP Securities Litigation Website

This website has been established to provide general information related to the proposed settlement of the lawsuit referred to as In re BHP Billiton Limited Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 1:16-cv-01445-NRB (the “Litigation”), and is pending before the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”). The capitalized terms used on this website, and not otherwise defined, shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Stipulation of Settlement (the "Stipulation") dated September 14, 2018, which can be found and downloaded by clicking on the Case Documents tab above.

The Court has appointed Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP as Lead Counsel. You will not be charged for these lawyers. They will be paid from the Settlement Fund to the extent the Court approves their application for fees and expenses. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

What is this lawsuit about?

This is a securities class action brought against BHP alleging that BHP made materially false and misleading statements to investors during the period from September 25, 2014 through November 30, 2015, inclusive (the “Class Period”), in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. An indirect subsidiary of BHP, BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda. (“BHP Brasil”), and Vale S.A. (“Vale”) each are 50% shareholders of Samarco Mineração, S.A. (“Samarco”), an iron-ore mining company located in Brazil. On November 5, 2015, the Fundão tailings dam, which is part of Samarco’s Germano iron ore mining complex in Minas Gerais, Brazil, failed, releasing mining waste (called tailings) that caused property damage and resulted in the loss of life. Plaintiffs allege that during the Class Period, Defendants made false and misleading statements regarding BHP’s focus on safety and its risk management and monitoring. BHP denies Plaintiffs’ allegations. At the time of the proposed settlement, Plaintiffs had completed substantial fact discovery, had completed class certification discovery and filed their motion for class certification, had engaged mining and other experts, and were preparing the case for trial. Defendants at all times denied that they had made any false statements or omissions, and continue to maintain that their statements complied with all applicable laws and regulations in the United States and elsewhere.

What does the settlement provide?

The proposed settlement will create a cash fund in the principal amount of Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00) (the “Settlement Amount”), plus any interest that may accrue thereon less certain deductions (the “Settlement Fund”).

The Settlement Fund, subject to deduction for, among other things, costs of class notice and administration and certain taxes and tax-related expenses, and for attorneys’ fees and expenses as approved by the Court and for certain expenses of the Plaintiffs, will be available for distribution to Class Members. Your recovery from this fund will depend on a number of variables, including the number of shares of ADRs you purchased or acquired during the Class Period, the timing of your purchases and any sales, and how many other Class Members make claims. While the recovery for any Class Member is dependent on numerous factors, including the timing and price of a Class Member’s transactions in ADRs, if all eligible Class Members make claims, it is estimated that the average distribution per eligible ADR of BHP Billiton Limited will be approximately $0.37, and per eligible ADR of BHP Billiton plc will be approximately $0.38, before deduction of Court-approved fees and expenses. Historically, actual claims are less than 100%, resulting in higher per-ADR distributions on average.

Additional Information

Although the information on this website is intended to assist you, it does not replace the information contained in the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement (the "Notice") and the Stipulation.

Your Legal Rights and Options in This Settlement

PLEASE NOTE: The Court extended the deadlines to seek exclusion from the Class or object to the settlement for certain Class Members whose Notice was mailed on or after January 11, 2019.  For these Class Members, the extended exclusion and objection deadline is March 21, 2019.  The Court has also changed the date and time of the final Settlement hearing to April 2, 2019, at 11:00 a.m.  The claims submission deadline of April 2, 2019 remains unchanged.