Financial Times: Ex-Shell chief to challenge FSA ruling: “Sir Philip Watts, former chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell, is due to challenge the Financial Services Authority at the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal today.”: “He claimed he had been "identified and prejudiced" when the regulator fined Shell £17m in August 2004 for misleading the market by overstating its oil and gas reserves between 1998 and 2003.”: Monday 25 July 2005

By Kate Burgess

Published: July 25 2005

Sir Philip Watts, former chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell, is due to challenge the Financial Services Authority at the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal today.

Sir Philip, who was forced to resign from Shell in March 2004, first launched his appeal against the FSA in the autumn. He claimed he had been "identified and prejudiced" when the regulator fined Shell £17m in August 2004 for misleading the market by overstating its oil and gas reserves between 1998 and 2003.

The tribunal, an independent body set up to appeal against FSA decisions, will be asked to judge whether the FSA followed a fair process in issuing its findings without giving Sir Philip the opportunity to respond.

Sir Philip said last year his rights had been "violated" in a "hasty" and "fundamentally flawed" final notice from the FSA on its decision to reprimand Shell. The FSA document did not name Sir Philip, but he argued that he was readily identifiable from it. He said a "full and fair examination of the evidence" at a tribunal would find he "acted properly and in good faith" throughout the reserves saga.

There has been mounting criticism of the FSA's enforcement process over recent years. This month the FSA announced far-reaching changes to its enforcement process of reprimanding and fining companies and individuals for wrongdoing. 

Click here for ShellNews.net HOME PAGE