Singtel appoints 2 new non executive, independent directors

SINGTEL (Singtel) Z74 has appointed 2 new non-executive and independent directors, Yong Hsin Yue and John Arthur, the company announced in 2 bourse filings on Saturday (Jan 1). Their appointments are effective Jan 1.

Yong, 50, also has a direct interest of 1,360 ordinary voting shares in the company. She has been the managing director of Kuok (Singapore) since January 2017. Prior to that, she was the general manager of the special projects division at Wilmar International from July 2015 to December 2016, and worked at Goldman Sachs Singapore from January 2011 to June 2015.

As far as her experience as a director of a Singapore-listed company goes, Yong was an alternate director of PACC Offshore Services Holdings in January 2019, and was then appointed as a director in May that same year.

The company was, however, delisted from the Singapore Exchange in February 2020 after an offer from Quetzal Capital on Jan 28, 2020 to acquire all shares of dissenting shareholders who had not accepted its earlier voluntary conditional cash offer.

Arthur, 66, has been a member of Singtel's Optus Advisory Committee since 2019, and is also currently the chairman of Sydney Metro - a government agency responsible for the design, construction and operation of Sydney's new rail network. He has held this position since 2019.

From December 2008 to 2020, he held various executive positions at Westpac Banking Corporation, including roles as the chief operating officer and consultant to the chief executive.

He does not have any prior experience as a director of a Singapore-listed company, and will be attending training on the roles and responsibilities that his new role entails.

The bourse filing also said that Arthur's time as an executive at Westpac saw disputes between the bank and the regulators over the company's compliance with its statutory and regulatory obligations.

The company said that while there were efforts made to resolve disagreements and disputes by mutual agreement, this was not always possible and litigation ensued.

Singtel said that it has reviewed the recommendation of the corporate governance and nominations committee, as well as the qualifications and experience of both Yong and Arthur, and have confirmed their independence and appointments.

Shares of Singtel ended Friday unchanged at S$2.32.