Shell confusion

[Simpo Two]

I had a small number of Shell shares with a bank - 146 B shares and 4 A shares.

Recently I transferred them in specie to my main platform - but they've morphed into 'Shell plc Ord EUR 0.07 (SHEL)'. I can't see how many shares there are, just a total value. What's happened there please?

[bogie]

The B and A shares used to be different due to tax treatment of NL vs UK, Now Shell has moved its HQ in the UK they are all the same for UK holders.

[razor11]

I'm guessing you are aware that Shell assimilated its A and B shares into a single line of ordinary shares when it shifted its tax residence to the UK endJan22. Hence the single SHEL stock. I'm not sure how the share conversion calculation was carried out or why you appear to have a no details. Mine did the same.

[Simpo Two]

Thanks for the replies.

razor11 said:

I'm guessing you are aware that Shell assimilated its A and B shares into a single line of ordinary shares when it shifted its tax residence to the UK endJan22. Hence the single SHEL stock. I'm not sure how the share conversion calculation was carried out or why you appear to have a no details. Mine did the same.

When the shares were with First Direct they appeared as A and B, even up to 3-4 weeks ago when I started the transfer. I don't recall seeing anything about the change from either Shell or FD, but the value seems about right. I wonder if the bank would have corrected it eventually?

[Mr Pointy]

I held 37 A & 324 B shares with Hargreaves Lansdown & they turned into 361 Ordinary shares around January 31st. I would have thought yours should have done the same:

https://www.shell.com/investors/simplified-share-s...

Some months before HL sent a message about the plan & a link to vote on the proposal.

[Simpo Two]

Mr Pointy said:

I held 37 A & 324 B shares with Hargreaves Lansdown & they turned into 361 Ordinary shares around January 31st. I would have thought yours should have done the same:

https://www.shell.com/investors/simplified-share-s...

Some months before HL sent a message about the plan & a link to vote on the proposal.

Thanks for the link. Nothing like that from FD. My only concern is 'Is it worth the same?'

I don't think the FD sharedealing interface has changed since 1996. That's the main reason I moved. Some holdings were showing a gain of billions of percent; I told them but nothing changed. Makes Dietz look like an amateur!

[Mr Pointy]

Ah, poor Cameron. We maligned her but now we miss her.

[Jon39]

UK holders of Royal Dutch Shell normally held the B shares. The dividends were paid in Sterling.
Strange that you also had some A shares. Think divs paid on those were Euros.

As already explained, not long ago Shell moved their domicile to London. Much to the annoyance of the Netherlands authorities. Sounds as though they were too greedy taxing RDS. Their reward might be zilch now!

One up for UK. Were even willing to drop the Royal title.

A and B are all now Shell Plc.


Edit - Poor show that your 'platform' people, did not keep you informed about that corporate action. Keep an eye on them. They are supposed to carefully look after your investments.
Since the shambles during the early days of PEPs, I don't trust anyone. Therefore tend to also have most ISA holdings in my own name as well. That way I can keep a check on them, because each company sends docs to me directly.

Standards are now good generally, although I am watching a missing dividend at the moment. In the process of moving away from that banking mob. My son is extremely happy with them though. They cannot cope with the complexity of British Land dividends. They pay him £100, every time he spots another one of their mistakes. -

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 18th June 12:57

[Simpo Two]

Jon39 said:

UK holders of Royal Dutch Shell normally held the B shares. The dividends were paid in Sterling.
Strange that you also had some A shares. Think divs paid on those were Euros.

As already explained, not long ago Shell moved their domicile to London. Much to the annoyance of the Netherlands authorities. Sounds as though they were too greedy taxing RDS. Their reward might be zilch now!

One up for UK. Were even willing to drop the Royal title.

A and B are all now Shell Plc.

Thanks. Was the 'Royal' part Dutch not British then?

The holding was inherited and goes back to the 1960s; I still have the certificates.

I don't recall the UK news trumpeting the fact Shell had decided to move to the UK ('despite Brexit'). Far too positive of course!

[Jon39]

Simpo Two said:

Jon39 said:

UK holders of Royal Dutch Shell normally held the B shares. The dividends were paid in Sterling.
Strange that you also had some A shares. Think divs paid on those were Euros.

As already explained, not long ago Shell moved their domicile to London. Much to the annoyance of the Netherlands authorities. Sounds as though they were too greedy taxing RDS. Their reward might be zilch now!

One up for UK. Were even willing to drop the Royal title.

A and B are all now Shell Plc.

Thanks. Was the 'Royal' part Dutch not British then?

The holding was inherited and goes back to the 1960s; I still have the certificates.

I don't recall the UK news trumpeting the fact Shell had decided to move to the UK ('despite Brexit'). Far too positive of course!

Wakey, wakey Sir.
There was a splash in the business news, partly because of such a good win for UK financial sector.
Yes, Royal bestowed on them by the Dutch. Be interesting how the few A shares arose, but probably now lost in the mist of past times.

The overall company title used to be Royal Dutch Shell, with two classes of shares denominated A and B.

Your mention of 1960 explains all, because the A shares (formerly Royal Dutch) were primarily listed in Amsterdam, with a secondary listing in London. The B shares (formerly Shell Transport and Trading) were primarily listed in London. Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares had identical rights.

You will get me ferreting through my safe next to check, but I don't think Shell reissued their share certificates for the recent change.
Might be wrong.

Probably good luck for you that A and B are now combined. You would otherwise have been stuck with 4 shares, costing too much to sell.

...................

Repost - Edit - Poor show that your 'platform' people, did not keep you informed about that corporate action. Keep an eye on them. They are supposed to carefully look after your investments.
Since the shambles during the early days of PEPs, I don't trust anyone. Therefore tend to also have most ISA holdings in my own name as well. That way I can keep a check on them, because each company sends docs to me directly.

Standards are now good generally, although I am watching a missing ISA dividend at the moment. In the process of moving away from that banking mob. My son is extremely happy with them though. They cannot cope with the complexity of British Land dividends. They pay him £100, every time he spots another one of their mistakes. - 

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 18th June 13:26

[Simpo Two]

OK, a small follow up to this...

With the old RDSB valuation I know the share price was around £23 before Covid, fell to about £10 then staggered back up some of the way.

Now that the shares have been moved and changed from RDSB to SHEL, they're showing at £20.50. Is the price/value of an old share the same as the new ones? Just trying to see if I'm ahead or behind.

[Mr Pointy]

Simpo Two said:

OK, a small follow up to this...

With the old RDSB valuation I know the share price was around £23 before Covid, fell to about £10 then staggered back up some of the way.

Now that the shares have been moved and changed from RDSB to SHEL, they're showing at £20.50. Is the price/value of an old share the same as the new ones? Just trying to see if I'm ahead or behind.

I beleve the price/value is the same - my A & B shares were always about the same value. This is my personal cart for the last 2 years & you can see there is no major change around the time of the reorganisation.

[Simpo Two]

Thanks! You never can be too sure these days...