Serious CG issues at SingPost (2)

The one person who wrote a lot about CG issues concerning SingPost is Mak Yuen Teen.

Many of his letters can be found in the "letters" department in the local newspapers. They can also be found on Mak's website.

The articles and letters concerning SingPost can be found here.

One rather remarkable aspect is that this is not the first disclosure lapse by SingPost, as detailed here, some snippets:


The group’s recent admission of disclosure failure may remind some observers of what transpired with ACCS 10 years ago. SingPost had announced its intention to invest in ACCS in early March 2005, after ACCS shocked the market by saying that it had lost almost all its Nokia contracts, had overstated its earnings, and was under CAD investigation.

Soon after, the deal came under intense scrutiny when it was disclosed that three SingPost directors – Mr Goh, Mr Lim and Tan Yam Pin – held stakes in ACCS.

Mr Goh, who had failed to disclose his substantial stake in ACCS, blamed “inadvertence”. Mr Lim revealed that he had bought shares in ACCS after it announced the Nokia contract losses, and that he stopped buying just days before talks on the planned investment started.

A bombshell came when SingPost and Mr Lim said in late March 2005 that they were helping in a CAD probe, triggering speculation that this was linked to Mr Lim’s purchase of ACCS stock. However, this was not confirmed. The CAD cleared Mr Lim of any wrongdoing a few months later, in October 2005.


It appears SingPost, despite the above negative experience, has not put proper processes in place to deal with acquisitions where directors seem to have a conflict of interest.