Author: Mak Yuen Teen

I truly believe that the day are numbered for active fund managers who do not practise stewardship on behalf of their clients. And those institutional investors hiding behind a false stewardship facade will be found out. I can’t wait for that day to come.

From its actions and disclosures, it is clear that the company had every intention to continue its manufacturing activities, for which it had signed and exercised an option for a new property. Its full-year financial results and press release of Sep 21 also clearly signalled its plan to continue in manufacturing. Its U-turn about ceasing its manufacturing activities appears to be caused by its probable inability to secure alternative premises after selling its existing property.

In a recent post, I asked why independent directors in Singapore are rarely held accountable, where I mentioned that Bursa Malaysia and other regulators in Malaysia seem to be more active in taking enforcement actions including against independent directors.

It’s time our regulators take a close look at the actions of directors when companies are caught in corporate governance scandals or failures and hold directors, including independent directors, accountable if they have failed to discharge their fiduciary duty and acted with the necessary skill, care or diligence. Otherwise, we will not see any significant improvement in corporate governance regardless of how strict our rules are.

We suggest that remuneration disclosure rules be aligned with IPT rules and therefore, like IPTs, any amount exceeding $100,000 paid to controlling shareholders, directors or their associates should be disclosed in exact dollar terms. Unlimited band disclosures also have no place in a disclosure-based regime.