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Shell shareholders vote on move to London

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Danny Kemp, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A logo of Royal Dutch Shell is seen at Gastech, the world" s="" biggest="" expo="" for="" the="" gas="" in="" April="" Toru="" File="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/12/10/shell.jpg"/><figcaption>A logo of Royal Dutch Shell is seen at Gastech, the world&#x27;s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan, April 4, 2017. <em>Toru Hanai,Reuters/File Photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Shareholders in oil giant Shell will vote Friday on plans to switch its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain after a century and drop Royal Dutch from the name.</p><p>Europe&#x27;s biggest energy firm says the move would simplify its tax and share arrangements, and accelerate its transition to net-zero emissions.</p><p>But its chairman also admitted the plan was driven by the Dutch government&#x27;s scrapping of plans to withdraw a tax on dividends.</p><p>The Dutch government said it was &quot;unpleasantly surprised&quot; by the plan, while Britain has hailed it as a vote of confidence in the British economy post-Brexit.</p><p>The meeting of shareholders is due to start at 10 am (0900 GMT) in Rotterdam&#x27;s Ahoy auditorium, which just months ago hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/16/21/shell-ditches-the-dutch-seeks-move-to-london-in-overhaul">Shell ditches the Dutch, seeks move to London in overhaul</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/03/21/pilipinas-shell-traditional-gas-low-carbon-operations">Pilipinas Shell says pursuing low carbon operations while continuing oil and gas</a></li></ul><p>They will be voting on plans for Royal Dutch Shell to switch its tax residence and top executives including CEO Ben van Beurden to London.</p><p>Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, shareholders have been &quot;strongly&quot; asked to stay away, watch online and vote remotely where possible, a Shell spokesman told AFP.</p><p>They may ask questions before the vote but there will be no presentation by Shell officials.</p><p>&quot;Shell is proud of its Anglo-Dutch heritage and will continue to be a significant employer with a major presence in the Netherlands,&quot; where it has some 8,500 staff, the firm said.</p><p>The Netherlands would however suffer a major blow from the loss of its biggest company.</p><div><strong>&#x27;Driven&#x27; to the UK </strong></div><p>Royal Dutch Shell was formed in 1907 from a merger of Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij and British firm Shell Transport and trading.</p><p>The &quot;Shell&quot; name and logo came from seashells imported in the 19th century by the father of Marcus and Samuel Samuel, the brothers who founded the British firm.</p><p>But pressure for change has been building, particularly from the activist investor Third Point, which has demanded Shell be broken up, bolster low-carbon investment and return more cash to shareholders.</p><p>Shell also suffered a blow earlier this year when a Dutch court ruled that it must slash greenhouse gas emissions, a landmark victory for climate activists.</p><p>When it announced the plan to move on Nov. 15, Shell said it would accelerate its &quot;delivery of its strategy to become a net-zero emissions business&quot;.</p><p>It would also eliminate a dual-nation share structure that held up dividends for shareholders, and simplify its tax arrangements.</p><p>However, Shell chair Andrew Mackenzie later admitted the company was also &quot;driven to go to the UK&quot; by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte&#x27;s decision in 2018 to abandon plans to scrap a tax on big companies&#x27; dividends.</p><p>The tax hit to the country from Shell&#x27;s departure could amount to billions of euros, local media said. </p><p>In return, the Dutch parliament is likely to insist on a &quot;departure tax&quot; that Shell puts at around 400 million euros.</p><p>The government even considered going back to parliament to try to scrap the dividends tax to convince Shell to stay, but could not muster support.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1717254" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

hareholders in oil giant Shell will vote Friday on plans to switch its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain after a century and drop Royal Dutch from the name.

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Shell shareholders vote on move to London

Danny Kemp,

Agence France-Presse

Published Dec 10, 2021 10:58 AM PHT

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