Wed May 6, 2009 4:51am ED
* Pirc urges investors to vote against remuneration report
* Follows criticism from ABI, Manifest and Standard Life (Updates with details)
By Raji Menon
LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) – Corporate governance body Pirc on Wednesday urged investors in Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to vote against the oil major’s pay plans at its forthcoming annual general meeting.
Pirc’s recommendation adds to growing criticism over the Shell Remuneration Committee’s decision to exercise discretion and award managers bonuses despite the company’s failure to meet pre-set targets.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued an ‘amber top’ notice to its members over Shell’s pay plan indicating a deviation from best practice.
“Combined awards are considered potentially excessive. We have concerns over the awards vesting under the long-term incentive plan as performance targets were not met but the remuneration committee exercised its discretion,” Pirc said in a note to clients.
Pirc advises pension schemes and fund managers on corporate governance issues and recommends how they should vote at shareholder meetings.
The body also noted that exercising such discretion “undermines a consistent long-term approach to performance”.
On Tuesday, a source close to major Shell investor Standard Life Investments said the investor will vote against the pay report at the annual shareholder meeting to be held on May 19 [ID:nL5968541].
“This is the second year in a row that the remuneration committee has (rewarded) executives for below-average returns to shareholders, which raises serious questions about whose interests they are looking after,” SLI’s head of corporate governance, Guy Jubb said.
Shell has also faced attacks from SLI’s fellow top 10 investors, one of whom told Reuters they expected a protest vote of 30-40 percent at the annual meeting. Manifest, an independent governance and proxy voting agency, also criticised Shell’s remuneration report.
[ID:nL5698627] (Editing by Joel Dimmock and Jon Loades-Carter) (For the Hedge Hub blog: blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub) (For Global Investing: here))
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
