Temasek has much to explain over Goodyear

July 22, 2009 by admin · 3 Comments
Filed under: SDP 

By the Singapore Democrats
21 July 2009

The about turn in Temasek’s appointment of Mr Charles Goodyear as CEO to replace Ms Ho Ching is a sad but accurate reflection of the abysmal leadership seen at the organisation.

Chairman of Temasek, Mr S Dhanabalan, had said in an announcement in February this year when Mr Goodyear was first appointed that the company had been “working on this appointment for more than a year.” He added that Mr Goodyear “shares the vision and values” of Temasek. Barely four months later, we learn that this appointment has been reversed because of “differences regarding certain strategic issues that could not be resolved.”

Given that Mr Goodyear’s appointment has been deliberated for over a year, is it plausible that strategic issues cropped up only at the last minute? What were these differences and why can’t they be resolved?

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Singapore’s Lesson: Buy High, Sell Low

May 20, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments
Filed under: Media articles 

Source: Asia Sentinel, 20 May 2009

Ho Ching’s flawed management of the billions of public savings entrusted to her as chief executive of Temasek Holdings has continued until the last. Her successor, Chip Goodyear, formerly with BHP, moved in as CEO-designate in March and formerly takes over in October. But presumably it was Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who took the decision to sell out of its huge Bank of America holding, an investment originally made in Merrill Lynch which was taken over last year to save it from bankruptcy.

Now she has managed to sell out at what, at least on a six month view, looks close to the bottom of the US financial sector. The sale was completed by the end of March so presumably took place in the preceding few weeks. Since then the BoA share price has risen 66 percent.

Temasek’s loss on BoA alone is estimated around US$4.6 billion, or roughly US$1,000 for every single Singaporean citizen. Big losses too were sustained on most of the rest of the financial portfolio such as Barclays of the UK and UBS of Switzerland.

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Fleeced

February 13, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments
Filed under: SDP 

By the Singapore Democrats, 12 Feb 2009

Original Link

CNN reported today that Merrill Lynch paid a total of $121 million (amounts in USD unless otherwise stated) to its top four bonus recipients in 2008 just before it went out of business. The next top for bonus recipients received $62 million, and the next top six bonus packages totalled $66 million. In other words, 14 people in the US were given nearly $250 million.

The list goes on: nearly 700 of the company’s top executives (out of a total of 39,000 employees) walked away with at least $1 million each in bonuses bringing the grand total  paid out to a cool $3.6 billion.

These benefits were dished out last December, just days before the bank announced that it had made a $15-billion loss in the 4th quarter ($27 billion for the year). A few days later, the company was sold to Bank of America.

The Merrill saga would make for fascinating reading if not for the fact that we Singaporeans were the ones paying for this scam.

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Timely departure of Ho Ching save PM the blushes

February 13, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Wayang Party Club 

By Eugene Yeo, Wayang Party Club
11 Feb 2009

The Wayang Kulit cannot be timed to a better perfection. Last Friday, Madam Ho Ching, wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made a shock announcement of her resignation from Temasek Holdings at a packed press conference.

In Parliament today, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Lim Hwee Hwa finally revealed the extent of Temasek’s losses – a whooping S$58 billion as of 30 November last year. It would be terribly awkward and embarrassing for the Prime Minister if his wife still remains as the CEO. (read report here)

Who should take responsibility for such a disastrous loss ? Apparently nobody is at fault since according to Lim Hwee Hwa, this is “in light of the global financial crisis.”

It’s true that few would have the foresight of Warren Buffet and Nouriel Roubini to predict the burst of the bubbles created by the financial system, but nobody asked Temasek to invest 40% of its portfolio into the finance industry to bail out ailing banks at a time when all other investors consider them assets too risky to invest in.

As early as 2002, Mr Buffet was already warning: “I view derivatives as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system.” Another academic, New York University’s Dr Nouriel Roubini, had warned at the World Economic Forum in 2007 that a “hard landing” was about to come with the bubbles created by the financial system. It appears that Madam Ho and Temasek’s executives were unaware of this.

Read the full article: Timely departure of Ho Ching save PM the blushes

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Temasek and our unanswered questions

February 13, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Wayang Party Club 

By Kelvin Tan, Guest Columnist, Wayang Party Club
12 Feb 2009

The announcement of Ho Ching’s impending exit from Temasek Holdings came as a surprise to many. The official reason given is that the celebrated American CEO Charles Goodyear is available for hire. However, many questions surrounding Ho Ching’s impending departure is left unanswered.

First, if Ho Ching is a CEO of such impeccable quality and who possesses strategic foresight, why is there a need to change hands so abruptly, and in the middle of one of the greatest financial storms in the world?

If Ho Ching were as good as the government has made her out to be, surely she would be the best and most familiar pair of hands to steer this ship in these frantic times.

Second, when Ho Ching was hired seven years ago, it was stated that her appointment would be one of at least ten years, so as to see Temasek through a series of long-term restructuring and re-direction. Therefore, shouldn’t Ho Ching stay on, and see that Temasek properly restructures in tandem with the larger tectonic shifts in the global financial complex?

Read the full article: Temasek and our unanswered questions

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Apres Ho Ching, Le Deluge?

February 12, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: New 

Asia Sentinel, 09 Feb 2009
Link

Lee Hsien Loong’s wife leaves Temasek just in time for her successor to reap the bad news

Ho Ching, the wife of prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, is departing from stewardship of Temasek Holdings in good time for her successor to have to be the one in charge when the disastrous performance for 2008 and 2009 comes around.

Such are the circumstances that the Singapore leadership has decided that it is best that a foreigner replace her – not that Temasek’s earlier recruitment of Wall Street whiz-kids has done it much good. This time former BHP Billiton boss Chip Goodyear just might shift Temasek’s attention away from disastrous forays into finance towards the natural resources which are so abundant in Southeast Asia but so conspicuously lacking from its Temasek’s portfolio.

BHP is in good shape compared with the other major mining companies such as Rio Tinto and Xstrata. But do not be deceived by this into thinking that Goodyear is the cautious, far-sighted manager needed by a sovereign wealth fund such as Temasek. BHP owes its relatively strong position largely to luck.

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Temasek CEO Ho Ching to Leave; Goodyear to Take Over

February 6, 2009 by admin · 3 Comments
Filed under: Breaking News 

Bloomberg news, 06 Feb 2009
Link

Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) — Temasek Holdings Pte said Chief Executive Officer Ho Ching will step down after almost seven years at the helm of Singapore’s $130 billion state-owned investment company.

Chip Goodyear, 51, a former CEO of BHP Billiton Ltd., will succeed Ho, wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, effective Oct. 1, Temasek Chairman S. Dhanabalan said at a press conference today. Goodyear will be the first foreigner to run the sovereign wealth fund.

Ho drove Temasek’s expansion outside Singapore with acquisitions in China, Europe and the U.S., increasing financial assets to 40 percent of the fund’s portfolio. Goodyear takes over as the credit crisis ravages the value of Temasek’s investments in Barclays Plc, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bank of China Ltd. The MSCI World/Financials Index slumped 60 percent in the past year.

“In hindsight, Temasek came in too early but it would be unfair to say Temasek made the wrong call to invest in American banks,” Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong, said. “At that time it was seen as a good opportunity to invest in U.S. banks on the cheap so it would be unfair to criticize the investment officers for the decision.”

Ho, 55, joined Temasek as a director in 2002. She became executive director that year and CEO in January 2004, according to information posted on Temasek’s Web site. Ho, who said she won’t remain on Temasek’s board, told reporters today she will decide on her next career move after she resigns in October.

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