THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Dutch Pension Funds File Suit Against Royal Dutch Shell: "Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, has already resolved some small shareholder lawsuits related to its reserves overstatements in addition to paying fines levied by American and European regulators.": Monday 9 January 2006

LONDON -- A group of 26 Dutch institutional investors sued Royal Dutch Shell PLC in U.S. court, seeking damages related to the oil giant's massive overstatement of energy reserves, which the company disclosed two years ago.

Rene Maatman, chief counsel at Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, the giant Dutch pension fund and lead plaintiff in the suit, said the action was necessary to protect itself and other European shareholders in Shell from the threat of being excluded from any settlement in a large, class-action lawsuit already pending in the U.S. related to the reserves issue.

ABP and the other Dutch funds banded together to seek a separate settlement to be "treated equally to U.S. shareholders," Mr. Maatman said. ABP and the other funds involved in the action are represented by American law firm Grant & Eisenhofer.

Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, has already resolved some small shareholder lawsuits related to its reserves overstatements in addition to paying fines levied by American and European regulators. Shell "contests ABP's claim and will vigorously defend itself against the action," a Shell spokesman said.

The new suit raises no fresh allegations against the company or its executives. In January 2004, Shell disclosed that it had overstated its reserves of oil and natural gas. Reserves are a measure of how much oil and gas a company has in the ground that it can one day pump and sell. Reserves serve as a key investor indicator.

In subsequent months, Shell's board launched an investigation into the overstatement, reshuffled the company's executive suite and cooperated in several regulatory probes into the company's bookkeeping. Shell eventually agreed to pay about $150 million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Britain's Financial Services Authority.

The Dutch funds filed the suit late last week in U.S. federal district court in Newark, N.J. The complaint alleges Shell and some of its officers made materially false and misleading statements about the company's reserves, causing substantial losses in connection with the plaintiffs' purchases of Shell stock.  

Write to Chip Cummins at chip.cummins@wsj.com