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Securities Fraud

Is Shell Executive Director Matthias Bichsel Trustworthy?

Feb 27th, 2013
by John Donovan.
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Matthias Bichsel, Executive Director, Projects & Technology, Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Irrefutable evidence proves that Matthias Bichsel knew years before Shell investors that Shell had a major problem over its proven reserves bookings, which were not in compliance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Like his colleague Simon Henry, the current CFO of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, he participated in the cover-up by not blowing the whistle, thus protecting his own ambitions inside Shell.  The evidence suggests he may have had a role in the reserves conjuring process and also has a memory problem. Lets hope it has not deteriorated further. He is not a man who can be trusted to look after the best interests of investors.

By John Donovan

Matthias Bichsel, a Swiss citizen, is currently an executive director of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. He joined Shell in 1980, rose through the ranks and was appointed as Director of Projects & Technology on 1 July 2009.

His current responsibilities include:

  • Project Execution
  • Global Technical Expertise
  • Research and Development
  • Third-Party Services
  • Safety and Environment
  • Contracting & Procurement
  • Technical IT

Can shareholders place their trust in Matthias Bichsel to protect their interests? The answer is absolutely NO, not if his track record is any guide.

Since Mr. Bichsel is the executive director responsible for safety and environmental issues, he may well have questions to answer about Shell’s Arctic debacle, with U.S. federal prosecutors currently being asked by the Coast Guard authorities to take legal action over safety and environmental violations committed by Shell and/or its contractor, Noble Corporation.  read more

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Oil’s not well for Shell directors

Sep 24th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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FROM OUR SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE SEPT 2004

The Times: Oil’s not well for Shell directors

“The debacle over the reserves lifted the lid on an organisation that appears to have knowingly deceived investors.”: “It was when Sir Mark Moody-Stuart was in charge in 1998 that a paper was produced under the title: Creating Value through Entrepreneurial Management of Hydrocarbon Resource Values. Inflating the reserve figures certainly did that.”

By Patience Wheatcroft

Business Editor’s Commentary

Posted 24 Sept 04

SHELL directors are looking into an abyss when they would prefer to be gazing down an oil well. For years the company has been using its reserves faster than it has been replenishing them and it does not take a highly qualified petroleum engineer to tell that continuation of that strategy does not make for a happy future.

So although Jeroen van der Veer and his colleagues must have known that, in the wake of the devastating reserves scandal, a more cautious approach to business might be appropriate, they have decided this was an option they could not afford. So Shell is taking a deep breath and hoping the oil price is going to remain high while it goes off in search of new wells whose contents are likely to be rather more expensive to retrieve than it would wish. read more

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Peter Voser, another Shell CEO tainted by scandal

Jul 29th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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FROM A SHELL INSIDER

Hello John

No doubt you are already aware, but in these Olympic times with your queen jumping out of a helicopter, one never knows.

You are aware of the growing Libor scandal. I just read that other banks also were involved such as RBS and the Swiss UBS.

Now, who was a director not too long ago in UBS?????

And on another topic, the window of opportunity to drill a well in the arctic is narrowing by the day. Before too long they will have to postpone the whole circus for another 8 months. This will cost a fortune. Not good planning. I see similarities with the Kashagan field. Too little detailed planning upfront, too much arms-length management (the boys know what they are doing) and then things derail. No money has been earned just yet on one of the biggest discoveries in the last few decades. read more

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London Evening Standard: Shell ‘has lied for 10 years’

Jun 25th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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FROM OUR 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

London Evening Standard: Shell ‘has lied for 10 years’

James Rossiter,

25 June 2004

EMBATTLED oil giant Shell has been dealt another blow with the filing of a new multi-billion dollar US class action against dozens of directors.

The action accuses the company of falsifying its reserves for almost 10 years and demands that ‘insiders’ who benefited must be brought to book.

Today’s filing is also the first lawsuit in the Shell saga to accuse auditors KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers of negligence and malpractice.

The firm has admitted four times since January that it overstated the amount of oil and gas on its books, That has resulted in it reducing its proven reserves by 4.5bn barrels, or 22% of the total. read more

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Will disgraced Shell boss Sir Philip Watts be stripped of his knighthood?

Jan 31st, 2012
by John Donovan.
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POSTING ON SHELL BLOG BY “SirPhil” ON 31 Jan 2012

“Having read that the former RBS-CEO, Fred Goodwin, has been stripped of his knighthood by UK authorities. Makes you wonder if and when Sir Phil Watts will stripped of his one. No doubt Phil’s selfish behaviour at the helm of Shell did more harm to the industry and private investors than Fred.”

RELATED ARTICLES

Memos expose Shell’s years of lying

EXTRACT: The correspondence between Mr Watts and Mr Van de Vijver began in June 2001 when Mr Van de Vijver took over as head of exploration and production. He was promoted after Sir Philip was made chief executive partly because of his success with reserves. The two engaged in a “pointed dialogue”, with Mr van de Vijver complaining Shell had overbooked reserves throughout the 1990s.

‘It happened on my watch. I am determined to fix it’ read more

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Tainted ‘symbiotic partnership’ between Brunei regime and Shell

Jan 3rd, 2012
by John Donovan.
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His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei meeting Malcolm (TFA) Brinded, Shell’s Executive Director, Upstream International.

By John Donovan

On Sunday 1 January, the Borneo Bulletin published a gushing article under the headline “Oil & Gas continues to shower Brunei with benefits, opportunities“.

It described a claimed lovefest relationship between Royal Dutch Shell and the Brunei Royal family, which the Sultan of Brunei has summed up as: “the extraordinary symbiotic partnership between the Sultanate and the global oil giant… Royal Dutch Shell…“ read more

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Can BP’s investors give oil giant the time to learn from Shell’s mistakes?

Jul 30th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Results clouded by rivals and identity crisis! Titanic court battle looms for oil company! Executives may face charges!

By Rowena Mason: 9:33PM BST 30 Jul 2011

If those headlines were meant for readers in 2011, the subject could be only one sorry corporate story: BP and its $40bn (£24bn) Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

However, the real answer lies six years earlier in another just as painful oil scandal that hit BP’s nearest rival, Royal Dutch Shell. This was the heated reaction to news that Shell had over-stated its oil reserves by a third in the years leading to 2004.

Downgrade after downgrade kept hitting the company’s share price until matters came to a head over an email from Shell’s head of exploration to the chief executive. read more

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ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PRIVACY INJUNCTIONS

May 13th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan

Twitter is currently flooded with people trying to identity parties who have obtained Super-injunctions in an attempt to hide embarrassing information from public scrutiny.

It is not widely known that Royal Dutch Shell has been a trailblazer in using draconian litigation to silence a conscience driven whistleblower who objected to Shell defrauding its shareholders and recklessly putting employees lives at risk.

In this case, it was a multinational oil giant trying to keep the lid on a potentially highly damaging story.
 read more

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Dutch Decision Has Implications for Global Class Actions

Jun 22nd, 2009
by John Donovan.
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In 2004, Royal Dutch Shell investors brought a securities fraud class action suit in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey alleging injury from Shell's intentional overstatement of oil reserves. The suit followed Shell's announcement in February of 2004 that it had recategorized 20 percent of its total proven reserves base, and an ensuing internal audit which uncovered an email from a Shell executive stating, "I am becoming sick and tired about lying about the extent of our reserves issues."

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El Paso Ex-Executives Settle Charges Over Reserves

Jul 12th, 2008
by John Donovan.
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The treatment of El Paso stands in stark contrast to how the SEC handled Royal Dutch Shell PLC in 2004, when it also faced charges of inflating reserves. Shell, which ultimately reduced its proved reserves by 22.5%, paid about $150 million in fines to the SEC and British regulators.

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22 June 2008: AG Announces $120 Million Settlement with Shell

Jun 22nd, 2008
by John Donovan.
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HARRISBURG - Attorney General Tom Corbett announced a $120 million settlement of a U.S. class action lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell, which was accused of overstating oil and natural gas reserves and artificially inflating stock prices over a five year period, from April 1999 to March 2004.

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.

Royal Dutch Shell European Fraud

Oct 8th, 2005
by John Donovan.
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Financial Times: It is vital that we all work together, says SEC

“…Cox… became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in August…”: “He highlighted US “scandals” at Enron, WorldCom, HealthSouth, Global Crossing, Qwest and Tyco. But he said they were not unique to the US, and noted “European frauds” at Vivendi, Royal Dutch Shell and Parmalat. “Cross-border collaboration in international enforcement is growing in importance because massive financial frauds by major market participants have rocked the global financial world,” he said.”

Friday 7 October 2005

By Andrew Parker in New York

Published: October 7 2005

The new head of the chief US financial watchdog yesterday pledged co-operation with overseas securities regulators to nurture investor confidence.

Christopher Cox, who became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in August, said cross-border collaboration was perhaps most important in dealing with wrongdoing by companies and individuals.

His speech, to a conference of lawyers, was the first time Mr Cox had publicly addressed the international dimension of his work. 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.

The Boston Globe: Shell to pay $151m to settle misstatements

Jul 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
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The Boston Globe: Shell to pay $151m to settle misstatements

“fails to hold personally accountable the corporate insiders who perpetrated the fraud,”

By Associated Press

July 30, 2004

LONDON — The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos. agreed to pay a $120 million penalty to US authorities for misstating its oil and gas reserves.

Shell disclosed the fine yesterday as it reported a 54 percent increase in quarterly net income that reflected high global oil prices. Net income for the three months to June 30 was $4.0 billion, compared with $2.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Shell said it had agreed in principle to pay a $120 million civil penalty to resolve the pending inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as $31 million in connection with an inquiry by British authorities. 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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