http://www.telecomasia.net/article.php?id_article=14301
Telecomasia.net, 23 Jul 2009, Robert
Clark
In the dark in
Singapore
He could’ve been the biggest guy in Singapore telecoms – but Chip
Goodyear decided not to go to Temasek.
In declining the CEO post the former head of BHP Billiton thus
foregoes the privilege – surely unique for the head of a fund - of
being able to choose rival telco CEOs.
The government investment arm owns 55% of SingTel and, through
100%-owned subsidiary ST Telemedia, is the biggest shareholder in
no.2 telco StarHub.
Temasek, which also has extensive finance, media and utilities
holdings, announced Monday that US-born Goodyear would not take
over as CEO on October 1 as planned, citing “strategic
issues.”
The WSJ editorialized with $84 billion in assets at Temasek,
“Singaporeans deserve to know
what happened” at the government’s flagship
investment firm. The paper didn’t have to mention that under the
stewardship of the prime minister’s wife it lost $39 billion last
year.
I mention all of this not because of Temasek’s control of the
telcos but because the local regulator also has transparency
issues.
The IDA is tipping S$1 billion
($693 million) in public money into the next-gen broadband project.
That’s a lot of cash – equivalent to 12% of the revenue from the
entire telecom sector last year.
IDA chief Ronnie Tay
declines to say how much of this money has been spent and how and
by whom, and says he has no intention of doing so.
For someone whose air-conditioned office, government-issued vehicle
and generous salary are part if not wholly taxpayer-funded, this
seems ungrateful to say the least.
No one doubts that it is within the spirit of the Singapore ruling
ethos, but you have to wonder whether is within the spirit of the
21st century.
The IDA also shares with Temasek
an important role in choosing telco CEOs, namely the right to
veto. For example, it reserves the right to block
Neil Montefiore from taking up the CEO post at StarHub.
I am not clear why the IDA, which has a good record as a
lightish-touch regulator, sees the need to vouchsafe for the
executive appointments of private companies (even - or especially –
those controlled by the government).
Neither, it seems, is the IDA. It has yet to respond to the
question posed a week ago.
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Other Hot News @ Singapore News Alternative:
1. Temasek, IDA - Issue of non-transparency
2. Temasek: Bruised, or battered by Goodyear's exit?
3. Singapore to cease full guarantee on bank deposits by 2010
4. Hong Kong Banks Agree to Repurchase Lehman Minibonds
5. MDA To Sponsor US$2.5 Million For Korean Monster Movie
Sequel
6. Temasek to Stick With Ho After Ending Goodyear Hire
.
