FINANCIAL TIMES: Observer: A wagging Dutch finger on Shell: “Royal Dutch/Shell's move to merge its twin Dutch and British holding companies seemed to have satisfied critics of the cumbersome, century-old governance structure when the oil giant unveiled the plan in October. Yet one prominent former employee sees mischief afoot.” (ShellNews.net) 4 Jan 05

Published: January 4 2005

Royal Dutch/Shell's move to merge its twin Dutch and British holding companies seemed to have satisfied critics of the cumbersome, century-old governance structure when the oil giant unveiled the plan in October. Yet one prominent former employee sees mischief afoot.

Step forward Frits Bolkestein, returned to his native Netherlands after his spell as European commissioner. Bolkestein is an old Shell hand, having occupied management roles from 1960 to 1976 at locations across the world.

Yesterday he aired the notion that the UK side seized on Shell's reserves chaos as a chance to wrest power from the Dutch. The British arm owns 40 per cent of the group and the Dutch the rest. But the proposed shake-up means a unified Shell would have its main listing in London and an Anglo-Saxon management structure.

Bolkestein asked on Dutch Business Nieuws Radio: "Who had an interest in directing the debate away from the core issue [of reserves]? Was it perhaps in the interest of Great Britain? Had the British still got a problem with having only 40 per cent, while the damned Dutch had 60 per cent?"

There was nothing wrong, he grumbled, with the company being run by a committee of managing directors. Bolkestein bemoaned the British "messing around" that accompanied demands - aired, he said, in the Financial Times - for a restructuring of the whole group.

Observer wonders what the motive is for Bolkestein's own messing around in the affairs of his former bosses. On his return to Amsterdam, he replaced the (understandably too busy) Shell chief Jeroen van der Veer on the supervisory board of the Dutch central bank. On what else may the 70-year-old be setting his sights?

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