Oil giant puts safety first and pulls its cash out of Europe

Shell said it would rather deposit its $15 billion of cash in non-European assets
Shell said it would rather deposit its $15 billion of cash in non-European assets
CARL DE SOUZA/GETTY

Royal Dutch Shell is to pull some of its huge cash pile out of European banks because it fears that the Continent’s debt crisis has made it too risky a home.

The oil group’s decision is a worrying new sign of capital flight from the eurozone, identified by economists as a leading source of stress for European credit markets and businesses.

The Anglo-Dutch company would rather deposit its $15 billion of cash in non-European assets, such as US Treasuries and American bank accounts, its chief financial officer Simon Henry told The Times.

Although the group is forced to keep some money in Europe to fund its operations, it is keeping the bulk of its reserve liquidity out of the region to avoid the growing