ITEM 5. INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.
Not applicable.
ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.
Article 135 of Shell’s Articles of Association (“Articles”) provides that, as far as the legislation allows this, Shell: (i) can indemnify any director or former director of the company, of any associated company or of any affiliate against
any liability; and (ii) can purchase and maintain insurance against any liability for any director or former director of the company, of any associated company or of any affiliate. Pursuant to the Companies Act 2006 (sections 232 and 233), we may
purchase and maintain for our directors (or directors of an associated company), insurance against any liability attaching to them in connection with any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust in relation to the relevant company.
Shell has entered into a deed of indemnity with each of the Shell directors. The terms of each of these deeds are identical and they reflect the statutory provisions on indemnities contained in the Companies Act 2006. Under the terms of each
deed, Shell undertakes to indemnify the relevant Shell director, to the widest extent permitted by English law, against any loss liability or damage, howsoever caused (including by that director’s own negligence), suffered or incurred by that
director in respect of that director’s acts or omissions on or after the date that the deed was entered into while or in the course of that director acting as a director or employee of Shell, any member of the Shell Group or certain other
entities. In addition, Shell undertakes to lend such funds to the director as are required to meet reasonable costs and expenses incurred or to be incurred by him/her in defending any criminal or civil proceedings or in connection with certain
applications under the Companies Act 2006. It is a term of each indemnity that Shell and the relevant director agree to be bound by the provisions in Shell’s Articles relating to arbitration and exclusive jurisdiction.
The relevant provisions of the Companies Act 2006 include sections 232 to 235.
Section 232 provides that, any provision that purports to exempt a director (to any extent) from liability for negligence, default, breach of duty or trust by him/her in relation to the company is void. Any provision by which a company
directly or indirectly provides an indemnity (to any extent) for a director of the company or an associated company against any such liability is also void unless it is a qualifying third-party indemnity provision or a qualifying pension scheme
indemnity provision. Shell is still permitted to purchase insurance against any such liability for a director of the company or an associated company.
A pension scheme indemnity provision means a provision indemnifying a director of a company that is a trustee of an occupational pension scheme against liability incurred in connection with the company’s activities as trustee of the scheme.
Such provision is a “qualifying pension scheme indemnity provision” as long as it does not provide any indemnity against (i) any liability of the director to pay a fine imposed in criminal proceedings or a sum payable to a regulatory authority by
way of a penalty in respect of non-compliance with any requirement of a regulatory nature; or (ii) any liability incurred by the director in defending criminal proceedings in which he is convicted.
An indemnity is a qualifying third party indemnity as long as it does not provide any indemnity against: (i) any liability incurred by the director to the company or to any associated company; (ii) any liability incurred by the director to pay
a fine imposed in criminal proceedings or a sum payable to a regulatory authority by way of a penalty in respect of non-compliance with any requirement of a regulatory nature; or (iii) any liability incurred by the director in defending criminal
proceedings in which he/she is convicted, civil proceedings brought by the company or an associated company in which judgment is given against him/her or where the court refuses to grant him/her relief under an application under sections 661(3)
and (4) (power of court to grant relief in case of acquisition of shares by innocent nominee) of the Companies Act 2006 or its power under section 1157 (general power of the court to grant relief in case of honest and reasonable conduct) of the
Companies Act 2006 (described below). Any qualifying third-party indemnity provision or qualifying pension scheme indemnity provision in force when the directors’ report (which forms part of the company’s annual report) is approved, or which was
in force during the relevant financial year, for the benefit of one or more directors of the company , must be disclosed in the directors’ report section of the annual report.
Section 205 of the Companies Act 2006 provides that a company can provide a director with funds to meet expenditures incurred or to be incurred by him/her in defending any criminal or civil proceedings in connection with any alleged
negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust by the director in relation to the company or an associated company or in connection with an application for relief under sections 661(3) and (4) (power of court to grant relief in case of
acquisition of shares by innocent nominee) of the Companies Act 2006 or its power under section 1157 (general power of the court to grant relief in case of honest and reasonable conduct) of the Companies Act 2006, or to enable any such director
to avoid incurring such expenditure. Such loan must be repaid, or (as the case may be) any liability of the company incurred under any transaction connected with the thing done is to be discharged if the director is convicted, judgment is found
against him/her or the court refuses to grant the relief on the application.
Section 1157 of the Companies Act 2006 provides that:
English law permits a shareholder to initiate a lawsuit on behalf of the company only in limited circumstances. The Companies Act 2006 permits a shareholder or member, as that term is defined in section 260 and 994 of the Companies Act 2006,
to apply for a court order:
A court has wide discretion in granting relief and may, for example, authorize civil proceedings to be brought in the name of the company by a shareholder on terms that the court directs. Except in these limited circumstances, English law does
not generally permit class action lawsuits by shareholders on behalf of the company or on behalf of other shareholders.