Banker Tracey Woon joins SPH board as independent director

Singapore

MAINBOARD-LISTED Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which publishes The Business Times, named banker Tracey Woon, 63, an independent director in a filing on Friday.

She is the vice-chairman of Asia-Pacific global wealth management at Swiss bank UBS, and was vice-chairman of Citibank's Asean corporate and investment banking before that.

Ms Woon is also director of the National University Health System and holds roles at bodies such as MOH Holdings, the Securities Industry Council, and Singapore Exchange.

SPH chairman Lee Boon Yang said in a statement: "Tracey's deep understanding of international capital markets, as well as her wealth of experience and expertise in investment banking, will be useful to SPH as we continue to invest, diversify and strengthen our businesses."

Ms Woon comes on board even as SPH faces "unprecedented challenges" from the coronavirus pandemic, economic uncertainty and media industry disruptions, he added.

The board said it is satisfied that Ms Woon, who will also join the executive committee and the board risk committee, "will be able to contribute significantly in the company". Her appointment takes effect on July 1.

Separately, a hearing for applications to put subsidiaries StreetSine Technology Group and StreetSine Singapore under interim judicial management has been set for June 22. These are not significant subsidiaries and the applications do not have a material impact on the company's operations for its financial year to Aug 31, SPH said in a statement.

Shares closed lower by S$0.03, or 2.21 per cent, at S$1.33 on Friday, before the latest announcements.