Temasek Holdings Pte’s chief executive officer should “ideally” be Singaporean, the city-state’s finance minister said after the departure last month of US-born Charles “Chip” Goodyear.
Temasek’s board of directors must remain in the control of Singaporeans, Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in parliament yesterday, adding that the government would not restrict its choice of CEO candidate. Goodyear, who would’ve been the first foreign-born CEO of the state-owned fund, quit five months after Temasek named him to take the helm from current chief Ho Ching (何晶).
The aborted appointment came after losses on Merrill Lynch & Co and other financial investments dragged down the firm’s performance last year. Ho said last month the value of Temasek’s assets slumped by more than S$40 billion (US$27.6 billion) in the 12 months ended March.
“Ideally we should have a Singaporean as a CEO,” Shanmugaratnam said.
Temasek had no obligation to compensate Goodyear after the “amicable separation,” the minister said, adding that the government had no part to play in his departure.
Goodyear, 51, became a member of Temasek’s board on Feb. 1 and CEO-designate on March 1. He was to succeed Ho, wife of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍), on Oct. 1. The government doesn’t directly manage the process of CEO succession and wasn’t involved in Goodyear’s departure, the minister said.
Goodyear presided over record profits at BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s largest mining company, and an almost 350 percent surge in the share price from 2003 to 2007.
Ho, 56, drove an expansion outside the city-state and increased financial assets to 40 percent of Temasek’s portfolio, including stakes in Merrill Lynch, Barclays Plc and Standard Chartered Plc.
Temasek, in the first quarter, sold its 3.8 percent stake in Bank of America Corp, which bought Merrill Lynch, at a loss that may have totaled US$4.6 billion. Temasek sold its stake in London-based Barclays at a loss in December and January, Reuters reported on June 3, citing people familiar with the matter.
The state-owned investment company’s assets were valued at S$127 billion as of Nov. 30, compared with S$185 billion at the end of March last year, the Ministry of Finance said in February.
Ho said in February she had been contemplating her departure since 2005 because it is important for CEOs to have a succession plan for “good governance” of their organizations. She joined Temasek as a director in 2002 and became CEO in January 2004.
Temasek was founded in 1974 to foster development of the island’s banks, airlines and ports.
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