Extracted from
http://yoursdp.org/component/content/article/1/443
Wednesday, 07 May 2008
Reuters
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong said on Tuesday its biggest sovereign fund GIC will not be as
open as sister fund Temasek in disclosing details about its
portfolio despite pressure from Western lawmakers on government
funds.
"GIC and Temasek are different," said Mr Lee in an interview with
Reuters.
"We do not want to tell people
exactly how much we have, so people can take a run on the Singapore
dollar."
"Knowing exactly how many dollars I have and where exactly they are
deployed doesn't help you understand what I'm doing. It doesn't
explain my motivation, it doesn't explain my governance. It doesn't
show you I am able to operate responsibly and commercially," Mr Lee
said.
Temasek, with more than S$160
billion under management, produces a yearly report that states its
returns on investments plus its list of major stock holdings.
In contrast, GIC states that it
manages well over $100 billion (S$136 billion) in assets but no
other details. Some analysts estimate it could manage more than
$300 billion.
"I'm even prepared to say in the
long term how generally we have performed. But year-by-year,
stock-by-stock, trade-by-trade ... We are not confident we are able
to operate that way," he said.
"Temasek is a subset of our portfolio. What they declare is what
they manage... The information is available from listed companies
anyway."
Sovereign wealth funds from Asia and
the Middle East have become more influential in financial markets
after pouring billions of dollars into several big banks that were
reeling from losses related to the distressed US mortgage
market.
The Government of Singapore
Investment Corp (GIC), of which Lee is deputy chairman, has to-date
invested $11 billion in Swiss bank UBS and $6.88 billion in
Citigroup.
Temasek has bought $5 billion worth
of Merrill Lynch shares.
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20080506-63758.html
.
"Knowing exactly how many
dollars I have and where exactly they are deployed doesn't help you
understand what I'm doing. It doesn't explain my motivation, it
doesn't explain my governance. It doesn't show you I am able to
operate responsibly and commercially," Mr Lee
said.
This statement alone will make it even more urgently important
for the GIC to be more transparent and accountable to an
independent auditors appointed by Parliament.
If GIC refuse to make itself accountable to anyone, and whatever
information it is prepared to divulge do not help in explain or
make itself accountable and understood by any Singaporeans - surely
it has become a major issue
A Parliamentary Committee should be formed by representative
from all political parties - {even if at present they have no one
elected into Parliament} - and also include nominated People's
Representative from different sectors of the Economy.
Such People's Representative must have some viable credentials
before sitting on the Parliamentary Committee - such as being a CEO
or CFO, or Accountant, or someone who has the experience of
managing a multi-million dollar business.
.
