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June 17th, 2004:

The Times: Need to Know: Global Business Briefing 17 June 2004

The Times: Need to Know: Global Business Briefing

June 17, 2004

By Neelam Verjee and Joe Bolger

A senior Royal Dutch/Shell official has given warning that a still shaky global economy and tougher European rules for cleaner motor fuels in 2005 may force some refineries to cut their capacity.

[email protected]

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Shell bows to investor demands

Financial Times: Shell bows to investor demands

By Sundeep Tucker in London

Posted 17 June 04

Royal Dutch/Shell has bowed to investor pressure and decided to release fresh details of its review into governance and structure in an attempt to avoid a damaging public row with shareholders at its forthcoming annual meetings.

The embattled Anglo-Dutch oil company had previously said it would issue an update of the review at its dual annual meetings on June 28.

But following intense public lobbying by investors, an announcement is now expected today or tomorrow following the monthly board meetings. read more

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Tough Shell needs to be prised open

The Times: Tough Shell needs to be prised open

17 June 04

SHAREHOLDERS in Shell are making it clear that they want to see drastic changes in the governance of the company. They are right. The indications are that, despite the horrors that have come to light this year, there is resistance to changing the basic structure of the group, with its unwieldy combination of a UK plc board and the Dutch business with its supervisory board and management board.

It may be that the inflating of oil revenues might still have happened had Shell been governed by a single board. Sir Philip Watts was a formidable boss who did not encourage disagreement. But it is debatable whether the culture that allowed him to exercise such undisputed authority would have survived had it not been for the complicated set up which allowed the divide-and-rule principle to flourish. read more

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Shell will respond to worries over transparency

The Times: Shell will respond to worries over transparency

By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor

June 17, 2004

SHELL will respond this week to demands from CalPERS, the Californian civil service pension fund, that the oil company end the secrecy surrounding the review of its board structure.

The Anglo-Dutch group has come under criticism for failing to reveal the identities and terms of reference of an internal team appointed after the reserves scandal to consider reforms to the complex governance of Shell and its multi-board structure.

The growing chorus of shareholders requesting more disclosure about the review has provoked an internal argument within Shell over the process, say sources close to the company. Those favouring a legalistic approach to the review want the team to remain in camera, similar to the investigation earlier this year into the misreporting of reserves. They fear that the team will be subjected to undue pressure if the process is made public. read more

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Double Dutch: Once again, Shell has managed to strike negative publicity where it was thought that none could be found

The Times: Double Dutch: Once again, Shell has managed to strike negative publicity where it was thought that none could be found

June 17, 2004

By Mike Verdin

When you’re in a hole, they say, stop digging. Unless, perhaps, if you are in the oil industry. So while shareholders asked the reserve-poor oil giant to focus on drilling, Shell has instead kept on digging itself into the public relations hole which opened in January, when the company first admitted that its oil fields might not produce the harvest which had been thought.

Investors had hoped that three further revisions to reserves, the sacking of two directors and the publication of Shell’s 2003 annual report, had closed the well of mishaps. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Houston Chronicle: Royal Dutch, Shell look at full merger

Houston Chronicle: Royal Dutch, Shell look at full merger

Associated Press

June 17, 2004, 2:06PM

LONDON — The Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos. said today that it might unify its unwieldy, two-sided corporate structure to try to improve accountability in the wake of its embarrassing overstatement of its proven oil and gas reserves.

Shell said it might unite the management boards of its two parent companies and abolish a special class of “priority shares.”

Shell hopes to restore investor confidence after the reserves scandal and forced resignations of several top executives, including former chairman Sir Philip Watts. It said it would update shareholders on the progress of this internal review at its annual meeting on June 28. read more

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Royal Dutch/Shell mulls single board: Gives details of review after shareholder pressure

CBS MarketWatch.com: Royal Dutch/Shell mulls single board: Gives details of review after shareholder pressure

By Steve Goldstein,

Last Update: 11:19 AM ET June 17, 2004

LONDON (CBS.MW) — Embattled oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell said Thursday it expects to complete its corporate revamp plan ready by November, and is considering the formation of a unified board.

Calls to reform what is seen as an unwieldy structure have increased amid the group’s reclassification of oil reserves, which occurred for the first time in January. The company is now faced with several legal probes, both by U.S. and European regulators and by private investors. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

NewRatings.com: Shell ‘sell’

NewRatings.com: Shell ‘sell’

LONDON, June 17 2004 (New Ratings) – Analyst R Richards of Dryden Financial maintains his “sell” rating on Shell (SHE1.ETR).

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that Shell’s share price is expected to remain under pressure in the near future due to concerns surrounding the company’s management structure and the reserve replacement issue. Shell has indicated that it is considering the implementation of a unified board structure, while abolishing priority shares, the analyst adds. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Scotsman.com: Shell considers unified board to win confidence

Scotsman.com: Shell considers unified board to win confidence

JIM STANTON DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR

Thu 17 Jun 2004

• Investors say structure partly to blame for debacle

• Shell to make its governance review public

• Analysts welcome greater transparency

EMBATTLED oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group may unify its British and Dutch boards as part of a drive to simplify its management structure and win back investor confidence, it said today.

The announcement comes after a fresh wave of investor fury yesterday when two major investors in the United States slated an alleged lack of transparency in the company’s corporate review. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Washington Times: Shell to abandon priority shares

Washington Times: Shell to abandon priority shares

London, England, Jun. 17 (UPI) — Royal Dutch/Shell announced Thursday its Dutch board had proposed scrapping its controversial priority shares, the Financial Times reported.

A statement said the board intended to make the proposal at its annual general meeting next year.

The priority shares scheme has come under fire from investors because the shares carry extra voting rights.

Shell met another shareholder demand by naming the executives in the steering group conducting a governance review, which was prompted by the mis-stated reserves scandal earlier this year. read more

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The Guardian: Shareholders prise Shell open

The Guardian: Shareholders prise Shell open

Mark Tran

Thursday June 17, 2004

The embattled oil giant Shell today bowed to pressure from big shareholders to provide details of its corporate governance review.

The company has been forced to look at its whole management structure after it shocked investors in January when it slashed its proven oil and gas reserves by a fifth. Other, smaller reserve cuts dealt further blows to shareholder confidence.

The downgrade resulted in the resignation of the chairman, Philip Watts, and other top executives and has sparked an investigation by US regulators. read more

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LETTER FROM BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON BEHALF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 14 JUNE 2004

LETTER FROM BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON BEHALF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 14 JUNE 2004

Buckingham Palace

14 June 2004

Dear Mr Donovan

The Queen has asked me to thank you for your letter of 7th June expressing your disquiet about a firm called Hakluyt and Company Limited.

Her Majesty has noted the content of your letter, but I should explain that The Queen, as Supreme Governor, would not intervene in the day-to-day running of the Church of England, however, you were quite correct to write to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to Lord Falconer with your concerns.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Gill Middlesburgh read more

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London Evening Standard: Shell forced to lift lid on shake-up

London Evening Standard: Shell forced to lift lid on shake-up

Steve Hawkes,

17 June 2004

SHELL has finally caved in to unprecedented pressure from its institutional shareholders still smarting from the oil giant’s reserves fiasco and revealed it will give a full update on the shake-up of its cumbersome corporate structure in November.

Facing widespread criticism for the failure to produce a progress report since conceding it had to look at the way it worked, the Anglo-Dutch group today set the terms of reference for its review and revealed who is working on it. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell threatens the followers of Ken Saro-Wiwa with secret agents and subpoena

NUOS INT’L: Shell threatens the followers of Ken Saro-Wiwa with secret agents and subpoena

An article by Christian S. Yorgure, Project Co-ordinator, NUOS INT’L

Posted 17 June 2004

As the Royal/Dutch Shell sails troubled waters, it is doing everything possible to net anyone connected to Ken Saro-Wiwa in ideology. Shell serving a subpoena on the National Union of Ogoni Students Int’l is a ruse. It is just to make the public believe that that they are using legal means to challenge accusations. No! Shell pays agents who do dirty jobs; they use high government and community officials who are easily swayed with money. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: Shell unveils corporate governance review plans

Reuters: Shell unveils corporate governance review plans

Thu 17 June, 2004 08:09

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch/Shell plans to reveal details of an ongoing corporate governance review later this year as it struggles to win back the trust of investors.

The world’s third-largest oil group shocked investors in January by slashing its proven oil and gas reserves by 20 percent. Further smaller reserve cuts, while not as dramatic as the first, dealt further blows to shareholder confidence.

Shell said on Thursday it planned to make results of the review public in November and that it would put into effect any resulting changes after its annual shareholder meeting in 2005. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloomberg.com: Shell Considers Unifying Board to Improve Governance

Bloomberg.com: Shell Considers Unifying Board to Improve Governance

June 17 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch/Shell Group said it may unify the two boards that have governed the company for almost a century, after the overstatement of its oil reserves led to the replacement of three senior executives and shareholder lawsuits.

“A number of possible structures, and improvements to decision-making, accountability and enhancement of effective leadership, are under active consideration,” Shell said in a statement on PR Newswire. “Amongst other alternatives, forms of unified boards, to which a CEO would report, are being studied.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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