Ms Valentine joined Rio Tinto as head of legal in 2008 and was promoted to the role of legal and regulatory affairs group executive the following year. Prior to joining Rio Tinto she served as deputy general counsel at United Technologies Corporation, having started her career in private practice at O’Melveny & Myers. She also served as general counsel at the US Federal Trade Commission between 1997 and 2001.
Bribery probe
Her departure from the company, which comes just seven months shy of her scheduled retirement in May next year, coincides with an ongoing internal bribery investigation at Rio Tinto. A statement from the company in August claimed that it recently ‘became aware of’ a series of emails from 2011 that shows contractual payments totalling £8.5m that were paid to a consultant in connection with the company’s Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. Rio Tinto has reported the discovery to relevant authorities in the UK and the US and has promised full cooperation with any subsequent investigations. Energy and minerals chief executive Alan Davies was in charge of the Simandou project in 2011 and has been suspended while the investigation takes place.
Sources: The Lawyer; Legal Week; The Telegraph
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