Dutch Appeals Court Orders Royal Dutch Shell to Begin Paying $381 Million Settlement to Pan-European/Global Investor Group

Dutch Appeals Court Orders Royal Dutch Shell to Begin Paying $381 Million Settlement to Pan-European/Global Investor Group - 5/29/2009

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HEADLINES \| SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS \| COURT FILINGS LINKS TO OTHER NEWS \| NEWS ARCHIVE	HEADLINES ARCHIVED SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS ARCHIVED

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Dutch Appeals Court Orders Royal Dutch Shell to Begin Paying $381 Million Settlement to Pan-European/Global Investor Group
Staff Writer

PR Newswire. May 29, 2009
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EXCERPT: Officially approving the largest securities fraud settlement ever reached in Europe, a Dutch appeals court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell plc. to begin payment of $381 million plus interest to a foundation representing a group of institutional investors from 17 European countries, plus Canada and Australia. The binding declaration was issued by the Amsterdam Court of Appeals, which in April 2007 agreed to serve as a forum for the investor group and Shell to work together in reaching a settlement of securities fraud claims stemming from the oil giant's inflation of its proven oil and gas reserves during the years 1997-2003. The agreement - which has grown to include more than 150 public pension funds in Europe, North American and Australia - is a particular milestone for European investors, given that European courts lack a class action mechanism for pursuing securities fraud claims. Under a relatively new statute never previously applied to a securities case, Dutch law allowed the Amsterdam appellate court to accept a collective resolution as long as both sides agreed, even in absence of a civil lawsuit. The $381 million settlement covers all non-U.S. purchasers of Shell stock obtained on European securities exchanges - principally London and Amsterdam - during the period of Shell's allegedly illegal energy reserve accounting. The pension funds leading the settlement represent millions of public and trade-based employees across Western Europe, including: The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland; Germany, Sweden, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Spain, Switzerland and Norway. Under the settlement, Shell is making its payment to a foundation specifically created to petition the Court of Appeals on behalf of the investor group.

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