Asti's move to retrench CEO with S$1.4m entitlement questioned

ASTI Holdings' dismissal of its chief executive officer (CEO) Michael Loh Soon Gnee with a S$1.4 million termination entitlement has at least one corporate governance expert questioning the appropriateness of such a move.

In a blog post on Thursday (Dec 23), Mak Yuen Teen, professor of accounting at the NUS Business School, noted Asti's annual report for 2020 declared there are no termination, retirement or post-employment benefits provided for in employment contracts with its directors, CEO or top five key management personnel.

Yet, in a bourse filing on Loh's retrenchment on Wednesday, Asti said Loh is "contractually entitled" to an aggregate of S$2 million as part of his termination, and that the board has decided to pay him some S$1.4 million instead.