• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

U.S. quizzes Shell in foreign corruption probe

Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:06am EDT

Stocks

   

By Tom Bergin

Stocks

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice has contacted Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) about potential violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) which may lead to fines, the oil major said on Monday.

The Anglo-Dutch company said the DoJ was investigating its use of Basel-based logistics firm Panalpina (PWTN.S), which has said it is helping the DoJ in relation to suspected bribery in Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.

"Shell's U.S. subsidiary, Shell Oil, was contacted by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding Shell's use of the freight forwarding firm Panalpina, Inc," Shell said in its annual report published on its Web site on Monday.

Shell said it started an internal investigation and is cooperating with the DoJ and with a probe launched by U.S. markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.

Panalpina has quit its Nigeria operations following the probe and said last week in a statement that it had "certain indications that, in the past, violations of the FCPA may have occurred."

The company has agreed with the DoJ on investigation plans in a number of countries.

Stocks


More from Reuters

Demonstrator holds a signboard with a slogan "Bla bla bla ACT NOW" during a rally outside the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen December 12, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

"Polluters are given rights to continue their dirty habits"

A climate change scientist blasts proposals for a cap and trade system, arguing it allows dirty industries to continue polluting, instead of rewarding innovation.  Full Article | Full Coverage 

    Climate Conference
    The Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft is surrounded by employees and special guests during its world premiere outside the Boeing assembly plant in Everett, Washington, in this July 8, 2007 file photo. REUTERS/Robert Sorbo/Files

    The Dreamliner takes off

    Boeing's fuel-efficient 787 took off on its first test flight, nearly two and a half years behind schedule. But the hurdles aren't over.  Full Article 

    Aerospace and Defense Summit
    Indian woman mourns death of her relative killed in tsunami in Cuddalore. When an earthquake of magnitude 9.15 struck off Indonesia's Aceh province on December, 26, 2004, it triggered a huge tsuanmi that raced across the Indian Ocean and hit Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. The worst natural disaster of the decade left 230,000 people dead or missing. Taken on December 28, 2004 by Arko Datta

    Pictures that defined a decade

    A woman's grief amid the tsunami devastation and one woman's fight against police in the Amazon are among the indelible Reuters images of the last 10 years.  Slideshow 

    Pictures