Singapore firm turns to High Court for protection against PNG govt

[SINGAPORE] A Singapore non-profit has invoked Singapore laws to nullify the purported sacking of its entire board including a prominent corporate figure by the government of Papua New Guinea and to prevent US$1.4 billion in assets from being "wrongfully appropriated" in a high-profile tussle over a controversial gold and copper mine in the country, according to court documents obtained by BT. Among those purportedly terminated from the board of PNG Sustainable Development Program Ltd (PNG SDP) is Lim How Teck, who has been a director since 2003.

A shipping veteran who retired as chief operating officer of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) after 26 years there, Mr Lim sits on 14 other boards in Singapore. He is currently chairman of Certis Cisco, ARA-CWT Trust Management (Cache) and Temasek Holdings unit Heliconia Capital Management, as well as the Singapore-based director for major German heavy lift and projects cargo liner company Rickmers.

Typically, directors from Singapore-incorporated companies can only be removed under Singapore law in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act and the Memorandum and Articles of Association. But in this case, the PNG government has apparently passed legislation, which it says gives it "all necessary powers" to restructure PNG SDP and its operations, and to expropriate its assets including a 63.4 per cent stake in the Ok Tedi mine, among other things.