New Chairman Of Royal Dutch/Shell

The former boss of Siemens Heinrich von Pierer is appointed as the next chairman of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.

Last Tuesday, the oil giant's shareholders voted overwhelmingly to back plans to unify the company's dual-ownership structure, with Dutchman Aad Jacobs, due to retire in 2006, as non-executive chairman. Shell said in April that it had started looking for a successor to Jacobs.