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Walter van de Vijver

Investigators say Royal Dutch-Shell officials in sights

Aug 25th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Houston Chronicle: Probe aims at top: Investigators say Royal Dutch-Shell officials in sights

By TOM FOWLER

Posted 25 August 2004

U.S. and British securities regulators are focusing on senior Royal Dutch-Shell officials and the roles they may have played in the oil giant’s massive overstatement of reserves.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and England’s Financial Services Authority said Tuesday they are now pursuing senior officials from the company related to the matter, which led to numerous shareholder lawsuits and a Justice Department investigation.

“As our investigation continues, we intend to focus on, among other things, the people responsible for Shell’s failures,” said Harold Degenhardt, administrator of the SEC’s Fort Worth office. read more

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SEC Order Shows Many Involved In Shell Reserves Debacle

Aug 25th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: SEC Order Shows Many Involved In Shell Reserves Debacle

“administrative order confirms that the scandal touched many officials beyond the senior executives who have left the company”

By JOHN M. BIERS

August 24, 2004 6:25 p.m.

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

HOUSTON — After months of quietly investigating the Royal Dutch/Shell (RD,SC) accounting scandal, U.S. regulators finally weighed in Tuesday, concluding in an official report that the company “knowingly or recklessly” misrepresented its oil and gas holdings.

The government disclosed no new bombshells, but a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative order confirms that the scandal touched many officials beyond the senior executives who have left the company. Shell neither confirmed nor denied the findings in a 19-page SEC order released in tandem with $125 million settlement. read more

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The Guardian: Shell’s shame: FSA spells out abuse

Aug 25th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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The Guardian: Shell’s shame: FSA spells out abuse

“Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at broker Oppenheimer & Co in New York, said the latest revelations from the regulators proved this was a corporate scandal of “historic proportions”. He added: “Short of Enron… I have not seen anything like this in 30 years of covering the market.”

Regulator confirms £17m fine and accuses group of ‘unprecedented misconduct’ in oil and gas reserves scandal

Terry Macalister

Wednesday August 25, 2004

The Financial Services Authority yesterday accused Shell of “unprecedented misconduct” for misleading the markets over the reporting of oil and gas reserves.

The searing criticism came alongside confirmation of a £17m fine for “market abuse” from the FSA plus a further $120m (£67m) from the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States. read more

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Daily Telegraph: Shell takes mauling over ‘market abuse’

Aug 25th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Daily Telegraph: Shell takes mauling over ‘market abuse’

“Shell was yesterday savaged by regulators in Britain and America for “unprecedented misconduct”: ‘The FSA said Shell “disseminated false or misleading information as to the true extent of its proved reserves” from 1998 until last July.’

By James Moore (Filed: 25/08/2004)

Shell was yesterday savaged by regulators in Britain and America for “unprecedented misconduct” that led to it mis-stating its proven oil reserves by more than a fifth.

The US Securities & Exchange Commission and the Financial Services Authority spelled out a catalogue of failings at the crisis-stricken oil company and set out their reasons for imposing penalties of $120m (£67m) in the US and a record £17m in the UK.

A further $5m will be spent by the Anglo Dutch company on developing and implementing a comprehensive internal compliance programme as part of its decision to settle an SEC fraud probe announced last month. read more

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Lloyds List: Shell settles with regulators to end reserves scandal

Aug 25th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Lloyds List: Shell settles with regulators to end reserves scandal

“findings and conclusions in the FSA’s ‘final notice’ and the SEC’s ‘cease and desist order’.”

Tony Gray

Aug 25, 2004

SHELL has moved closer to consigning one of the oil giant’s darkest chapters to history when it reached final settlements with the US and UK authorities over its mis-statement of proven oil reserves.

The world’s third-largest oil group is paying $120m to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and a record GBP17m ($30.4m) to the UK Financial Services Authority.

These fines come seven months after Shell shocked investors by slashing its proven oil and gas reserves by a fifth, or 4.47bn barrels. read more

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Fresh probe into Shell oil reserves scandal

Aug 24th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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The Scotsman: Fresh probe into Shell oil reserves scandal

Watchdogs to target ‘those responsible’

JIM STANTON, DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR

25 August 04

REGULATORS on both sides of the Atlantic are set to pursue a number of as-yet unnamed individuals that they believe are responsible for the reserves scandal at oil giant Shell.

News of separate investigation came as the embattled company settled fines with British and United States watchdogs over the debacle totalling £84 million.

Wrapping up an initial investigation, British regulator the Financial Services Authority said the Anglo-Dutch group was responsible for “unprecedented misconduct” and was putting out false figures for its proven oil reserves as far back as 1998. read more

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Virtually no hiding place from long arm of computer detectives

Aug 19th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Financial Times: Virtually no hiding place from long arm of computer detectives

“…fraud investigation is to turn on a “smoking gun” document…,”: “I am becoming sick and tired about lying about the extent of our reserves issues.”

By Bob Sherwood

Published: August 19 2004

If a commercial court battle, employee discrimination case or fraud investigation is to turn on a “smoking gun” document, the chances are it will have been recovered from a computer.

Oft-quoted statistics claim that about 90 per cent of documents generated by a business are created and stored electronically. Up to 70 per cent of them are never printed as a hard copy.

The value of searching for the killer e-mail has been demonstrated in a number of recent cases. Frank Quattrone, the most prominent investment banker of the internet era, was found guilty in the US in May of covering up an investigation into hot stock offerings at Credit Suisse First Boston, his former employer, at the height of the bull market. read more

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Daily Express: Shell faces takeover challenge from Total

Aug 16th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Daily Express: Shell faces takeover challenge from Total

“THE turmoil at Shell has triggered speculation that it could be vulnerable to a takeover or merger”

16 August 04

THE turmoil at Shell has triggered speculation that it could be vulnerable to a takeover or merger, with France’s Total tipped as a contender.

Shell has been rocked this year by revelations that its oil and gas reserves were 20 per cent lower than thought.

The crisis claimed the scalps of three senior executives^ including chairman Sir Philip Watts and the head of exploration Walter van de Vijver.

It has also raised questions about the independence of Shell which has remained on the sidelines while the industry has seen a wave of mergers and takeovers including Exxon’s purchase of Mobil. read more

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An oil giant’s road from Rajasthan to ruin

Aug 14th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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 FROM OUR AUGUST 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

The Independent: Michael Harrison’s Outlook: An oil giant’s road from Rajasthan to ruin

“Shell, by contrast, has endured the most humiliating, torrid and damaging period in its 100-year history. It is hard to think of a more spectacular fall from grace or a more abject example of management failure.”: “The deeper it dug itself into this hole, the more Shell was forced to lie” 

Fortunes; Failure; Scramble

14 August 2004

It is a long way from the arid deserts of Rajasthan to the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank. But two events this week provide a link.

One was the announcement by Cairn Energy that it had made yet another significant oil discovery in a region of India hitherto better known for its sumptuous pink palaces and backpacking tourists. The other was the disclosure that Shell’s former head of exploration and production, Walter van de Vijver, is to receive a £2.5m pay-off after being sacked for his part in the company’s reserves scandal. read more

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SEC to Continue With Shell Interviews Despite Striking Deal

Aug 14th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Energy Intelligence Group: SEC to Continue With Shell Interviews Despite Striking Deal: “(SEC) is to continue interviewing Royal Dutch/Shell witnesses next month in connection with the group’s reserves downgrades, despite the deal in principle struck between the two sides”

(Copyright © 2004 Energy Intelligence Group, Inc.)

Thursday, August 5, 2004
Posted 14 August 2004

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to continue interviewing Royal Dutch/Shell witnesses next month in connection with the group’s reserves downgrades, despite the deal in principle struck between the two sides last week to halt the SEC’s investigation into the company, a Shell source told International Oil Daily on Wednesday.

“There are still some interviews being conducted in September,” the source said. read more

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Daily Mail: Board reforms will suit Shell

Aug 14th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Daily Mail: Board reforms will suit Shell

“Call it a triumph of globalisation – or call it a total mess.”

Ruth Sunderland
13 August 2004
Posted 14 August 04

THE senior oilmen who resigned in the wake of Shell’s reserves crisis this year must rank pretty high up the league table of executives who are rewarded for failure.

Dutchman Walter van de Vijver, the former exploration boss, is receiving a golden handshake of up to €3.8m or £2.54m.

Given that he has been portrayed as an ineffectual whistleblower, some may wonder why he is being handed an even bigger golden handshake than the £1m-plus doled out to departed chairman Sir Philip Watts. read more

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Shell to Pay $4.6 Million In Severance, Pension To Ousted Executive

Aug 13th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Shell to Pay $4.6 Million In Severance, Pension To Ousted Executive

“The SEC still is investigating individuals involved in the overstatement.”

By CHIP CUMMINS

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

August 13, 2004; Page A6

LONDON — Royal Dutch/Shell Group said it agreed to a €3.8 million ($4.6 million) severance payment for Walter van de Vijver, a senior executive ousted in March after the company acknowledged that it had overstated its energy reserves.

Shell said it will pay Mr. van de Vijver in installments, subject to continuing cooperation with various authorities still investigating the reserves overstatement. Shell said Mr. van de Vijver, its former head of exploration and production, was also entitled to a deferred annual pension of €385,388, beginning in 2015. read more

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Different dealings weaken Shell group

Aug 13th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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The Times: Different dealings weaken Shell group: “deemed responsible for the same horrendously damaging issue of cutting corners”

Business Commentary

By Robert Cole

August 13, 2004

SIR PHIL WATTS and Walter van de Vijver were ejected from the Royal Dutch/Shell group at the same time. They were deemed responsible for the same horrendously damaging issue of cutting corners on reported proven oil and gas reserves.

Mr Van de Vijver, we now learn, is to receive a £2.5 million payoff, more than twice as much as his former boss, as well as a deferred pension of £257,000 a year. Perfectly rational arguments could be made for this seemingly inconsistent treatment. The reality, however, is that although both superficially worked for the same integrated organisation, Mr Van de Vijver is a Royal Dutch man, treated according to Dutch law and practice, while Sir Phil was a Shell Transport chap and so dealt with in Anglo Saxon ways. read more

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Shell director who was ‘tired of lying’ given £2.5m payoff

Aug 13th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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The Times: Shell director who was ‘tired of lying’ given £2.5m payoff

“Shell investors lost 50p for every barrel that went missing while Phil and Walter together earned 80p for every barrel mislaid”

August 13, 2004

By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor

THE Shell director who complained that he was “tired of lying” about the state of the company’s oil and gas reserves is to be paid £2.5 million in compensation for losing his job as head of oil exploration in the Anglo-Dutch multinational.

Walter van de Vijver’s settlement eclipses the £1 million paid to Sir Philip Watts, Shell’s former chairman, who, together with Mr Van de Vijver, was removed from office in March for the pair’s role in the misreporting of Shell’s oil and gas reserves. read more

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Shell’s failure was huge but the rewards have been ample

Aug 13th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Daily Telegraph: Shell’s failure was huge but the rewards have been ample

“It would be hard to imagine a more extreme form of top management failure than that at Shell”

City comment

Edited by Neil Collins, City Editor

(Filed: 13/08/2004)

It would be hard to imagine a more extreme form of top management failure than that at Shell, and the executives involved deserved to pay for it with their jobs and reputations. Sir Philip Watts will surely never get another senior post in a public company, and his successor in charge of Shell’s exploration and production is also likely to present a serious challenge to a recruitment specialist.

It all looks pretty harsh until you see what the pair have been paid to go away. We already knew about Sir Philip’s £1m, and now we are told that Walter van de Vijver is to be comforted with 3.8m, or about £2.5m in real money. read more

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Shell boss to get £2.5m pay-off

Aug 13th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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Daily Telegraph: Shell boss to get £2.5m pay-off

“The final payment is likely to exceed 4m”: The pay-off is likely to be seen by critics as another example of “reward for failure”.

By Christopher Hope (Filed: 13/08/2004)

Walter van der Vijver, one of Shell’s two senior directors who resigned after the company’s reserves crisis earlier this year, has been handed a 3.8m (£2.5m) pay-off, worth four times his basic salary.

It is more than twice as much as the £1m given to Sir Philip Watts, Shell’s former chairman of the committee of managing directors, who also lost his job.

The pair quit after the Anglo-Dutch group shocked investors in January by revealing that its “proven” oil and gas reserves were 20pc less than it had thought. Shell then revised the figure a further three times before concluding that it had overstated its proven reserves by 23pc – or 4.47billion barrels. read more

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