Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng claims it is, but the move has more to do with avoiding Dutch dividend tax
It’s now 3-0 to the UK in terms of Anglo-Dutch members of the FTSE 100 index picking a single location in which to unify their corporate structures and tax domiciles. Shell is following publisher Relx, the old Reed Elsevier, which simplified in London so quietly, almost nobody noticed, and Unilever, where there was an almighty fuss because a Dutch-dominated board initially wanted to go wholly Dutch. The equivalent of a pitch invasion by UK shareholders, and then a replay, was required for the consumer goods giant to give the nod to the UK.
So is Shell’s decision a “clear vote of confidence in the British economy,” as Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, claimed? Not really. One doubts Shell’s directors spent any time pondering the state of the UK economy. It’s really a question of Anglo-Dutch multinationals’ frustration with the Dutch system of applying a 15% withholding tax on dividends.
