By DOW JONES/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 31, 2006
By Dow Jones/AP
The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to take no action against Sir Philip Watts, the former chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, over the 2004 scandal involving the overbooking of oil reserves, the law firm representing him said yesterday.
The S.E.C., which conducted a two-year joint investigation with the British Financial Services Authority, concluded that no action should be taken against Sir Philip, former chairman of Shell’s committee of managing directors, according to a news release by the firm, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.
The S.E.C. also cleared two other former top Shell executives, Judith Boynton and Walter van de Vijver, Shell confirmed yesterday. An S.E.C. spokesman declined to comment.
Sir Philip is still a defendant in civil litigation related to the reserves scandal, but no longer faces regulatory scrutiny, said his lawyer, Adriaen Morse of Mayer Brown. “As far as we know, there is no government or regulatory interest in him anymore,” Mr. Morse said.
The Justice Department said in June 2005 that it closed a criminal investigation into Shell over the reserves problem.
Shell startled the markets with a series of reserves downgrades in 2004 that reduced its total oil and gas reserves by about one-fourth.
Shell executives, including Sir Philip, expressed dismay about the problem when Shell first disclosed the downgrade in January 2004. But a subsequent investigation showed that he and Mr. van de Vijver, Shell’s exploration and production chief, had been brooding over the issue for months.
The scandal led to the resignations of Sir Philip, Mr. van de Vijver and Ms. Boynton, the chief financial officer. Shell, a British-Dutch conglomerate, also streamlined its corporate structure, compressing into a single corporate entity with one board.
Sir Philip and others remain defendants in a shareholder suit in federal court in New Jersey. A federal judge has scheduled a three-phase hearing for May 2007 that will focus on Shell’s proposed motion for summary judgment and class certification, among other issues.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
