SHAREHOLDERS of MC Payment showed their support for controlling shareholder Ching Chiat Kwong, and passed resolutions to appoint five new directors to the company's board during an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Wednesday.

Following the results, most of MC Payments’ current directors, including chief executive Anthony Koh, resigned from the board of directors of the digital-payments company effective Wednesday, the company said in an exchange filing. 

The EGM on Wednesday was requisitioned by Mr Ching, who has said that he has lost confidence in the current board of MC Payment.

All five directors proposed by Mr Ching, who is also chief executive of mainboard-listed property group Oxley Holdings, received over 70 per cent of shareholders' votes in favour of their respective appointments.

Mr Ching's proposed additions to MC Payment's board include himself, Shawn Ching and Harry Ng. Mr Shawn Ching is Mr Ching's son, and Mr Ng is lead independent director at Oxley Holdings.

Both were previously directors of MC Payment, but had not been re-elected to the board during MC Payment's annual general meeting (AGM) in April. Each had received only 43.3 per cent of the votes. They obtained 78.2 per cent of the votes at Wednesday’s EGM.

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Meanwhile, MC Payment's non-executive chairman Albert Cheok announced that the whole of the present board, other than independent director Kesavan Nair, were tendering their resignations.

Mr Ching had earlier submitted a second requisition calling for the removal of these directors, and the resolutions had been scheduled for an EGM in July.

Apart from Mr Cheok and Mr Koh, the other directors who be leaving MC Payment's board are chief operating officer and executive director Kim Moon Soo, as well as independent directors Lilian Koh and David Ong.

MC Payment said that Mr Koh has also resigned as chief executive, but will remain with the group until Dec 30 to ensure a smooth transition and complete handover of his duties.  Mr Kim, who has resigned as chief operating officer, will remain with the group until Sept 30. 

In recent weeks, Mr Ching, who holds a 27.06 per cent stake in MC Payment, has been engaged in a war of words with the outgoing board of directors.

Among the reasons given for his loss of confidence include concerns over the conduct of voting during the April AGM, and his discovery that the board had authorised Mr Koh to enter into a term sheet for the proposed acquisition of NGSC shortly after the AGM.

Mr Ching had said previously that appointing additional directors would serve as a check and balance on the current board, and is in the interests of strong corporate governance.

However, MC Payment’s board had refuted his claims.  Its nominating committee said last week that it did not recommend shareholders vote in favour of the proposed directors, even though the Catalist-listed company’s sponsor had deemed them suitable.

Trading in MC Payment shares were halted on Wednesday, pending the release of the result of the company's EGM. The shares closed at S$0.44 on Tuesday, down 4.3 per cent or S$0.02.