By Kate Burgess and Richard Milne
Published: June 1 2009 20:15 | Last updated: June 1 2009 20:15
Protest vote: Jeroen van der Veer, Shell chief executive, at last months annual meeting. Investors rejected a remuneration report that was to award directors 4.2m in bonuses despite missed targets |
Guy Jubb cannot remember when he last spoke out publicly at a companys annual meeting until this year, that is. Last month the head of corporate governance at Standard Life Investments travelled to The Hague from Edinburgh to look the board ofRoyal Dutch Shell eyeball to eyeball as he outlined his grievances at the oil groups attitude to executive pay.
The anger evident at Shells meeting pointed to a new determination among shareholders across Europe to be seen to hold boards to account, clamp down on excesses and stave off the political backlash that many see brewing against corporate greed.