ShellNews.net: Deadline Met: Global class action motion alleging securities fraud filed against Royal Dutch Shell in U.S. Court

On Friday 20 January, we broke the news that a U.S. Chief District Court Judge had set a deadline of 1st March 2006 for a motion to be filed seeking consent for non-USA shareholders to join a U.S. class action lawsuit already given consent to proceed. This meant that potentially the global floodgates would be open to all qualifying non-US Shell shareholders.
An appeal was made exclusively on this website on behalf of the New York based lead Plaintiff attorneys, Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz, to find a non-U.S. shareholder to join the lead plaintiffs; the Pennsylvania State Employee Retirement System and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System.
ShellNews.net is delighted to report that the appeal made on this website was successful. Mr Peter Wood, a UK citizen resident in Andorra (a petroleum engineer and former Shell employee) is dedicated to serving as a fiduciary for all Class members (class representative of all non-U.S. purchasers of Shell stock in the qualifying period). A motion was duly filed by the 1 March deadline in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.
The documents are accessible via the link below: –
http://shellnews.net/class action docs/shellnewsnet-global-class-action-3-march-2006.htm
Chief District Court Judge John Bissell has already ruled that Shell has *a case to answer for alleged securities fraud and that for the first time in U.S. legal history non-US shareholders may be permitted to join a US class action. The class action seeks to recover damages on behalf of all investors worldwide, no matter where they bought shares.
Any non-U.S. persons who purchased or acquired securities of Royal Dutch/Shell Transport on any non-U.S. exchange between 8 April 1999 and 18 March 2004 may potentially pursue their claims for damages. Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz are working entirely on a contingent fee basis.
If you are a non-U.S. citizen who purchased Royal Dutch/Shell Transport securities on any non-U.S. exchange and want information about your rights in the action, you may contact Lead Counsel for the investors: Michael Bigin, Esq. at Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz, LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, by phone at 001-212-779-1414, or by email at [email protected].
The Defendants in the class action include Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (“Royal Dutch”), The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, PLC (“Shell Transport” and, together with Royal Dutch, “Shell” or the “Companies”), KPMG Accountants N.V. (“KMPG NV”), PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC UK”), KPMG International (“KPMG-I”), Sir Philip Watts (“Watts”), Walter van de Vijver (“van de Vijver”), and Judith Boynton (“Boynton”). “Individual Defendants” shall refer to Watts, van de Vijver, and Boynton. “Corporate Defendants” shall refer to Royal Dutch, Shell Transport, KPMG NV, PwC UK, and KPMG-I. “Auditing Defendants” shall refer to KPMG NV, PwC UK, and KPMG-I. “Royal Dutch Defendants” shall
refer to all Defendants other than the Auditing Defendants.

*In the August 9th Opinion Judge Bissell found that “Lead Plaintiff has adequately pled that Defendants have engaged in material and substantial fraudulent conduct in the United States…”

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