By Fiona Maharg Bravo
www.breakingviews.com
Royal Dutch/Shell's problems stem from the multinational group's lack of accountability to investors. After the recent debacle over a mis-statement of its oil reserves in its accounts, it might have been expected that the group would have started to listen to them. But that's not the case.
The Dutch/British group's new chairman, Jeroen van der Veer, has mounted a defence of the existing double-headed board structure. His argument in general is that Royal Dutch/Shell's problems can be attributed to a few rotten apples, not to its corporate governance or culture. Sure, the group needs to tidy things up a bit around the edges. But there's no way it needs to rethink its structure.
What's more, van der Veer has introduced an element of British versus Dutch into the debate. And as there...
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