Singapore Exchange Seeks New CEO; Hsieh Plans to Quit (Update1)
2008-10-03 06:20:16.770 GMT
(Adds Chief Executive's comment in fourth paragraph.)
By Chen Shiyin
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore Exchange Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Hsieh Fu Hua said he plans to quit and will wait until a successor is found.
Singapore Exchange, operator of the island's securities and derivatives markets, will search for a new chief executive both internally and externally and consider candidates from outside Singapore, Chairman J.Y. Pillay said.
Hsieh joined Singapore Exchange on March 1, 2003, after serving as managing partner of PrimePartners Group, a Singapore- based private equity firm, and working for BNP Prime Peregrine Group and Morgan Grenfell Asia Holdings Pte. The bourse, created in December 1999 by the merger of the Stock Exchange of Singapore and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange, reported record profit of S$478.3 million for the year ended June 30.
``I believe a role of any CEO should be limited in duration, only because there comes a time where I think it's time to move on,'' Hsieh told reporters after the company's annual general meeting. ``The organization should see someone with greater energy and a new perspective to take over.''
Hsieh said he's ``committed to stay'' until a successor is found. The exchange ``hopes to complete'' the process before Hsieh's current term expires in September 2009, Pillay said.
Short Sales
Hsieh also told reporters that the exchange won't lift measures introduced to improve disclosure on short selling in the city. The exchange said on Sept. 22 it will publish information on so-called naked short sales and introduce a penalty for failed trades will probably remain in place.
Singapore Exchange fell short of temporarily banning the practice, a move taken by regulators in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia in the past month to arrest the decline in regional markets.
``I will never say never, but you can tell that's not been our philosophy, by and large,'' Hsieh said.
Short-sellers try to profit by betting stock prices will fall. In a short sale, traders borrow shares from their broker that they then sell. If the price drops, they buy back the stock, return it to their broker and pocket the difference. In naked short sales, traders issue sell orders and don't borrow the shares.
Singapore's Straits Times Index has declined 33 percent this year as rising credit-market losses and soaring commodity prices raised concern global economic growth will slow.
For Related News:
Top South, Southeast Asia news: TOP SAS <GO> News on SGX's management: SGX SP <Equity> TCNI WNEWS <GO> Most-read Singapore stories: MNI SP <GO>
--With reporting by Andrea Tan in Singapore. Editors: James Unwin, Gareth Nicholson.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chen Shiyin in Singapore at +65-6212-1170 or [email protected].
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tony Jordan at +65-6212-1150 or [email protected].
2008-10-03 06:20:16.770 GMT
(Adds Chief Executive's comment in fourth paragraph.)
By Chen Shiyin
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore Exchange Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Hsieh Fu Hua said he plans to quit and will wait until a successor is found.
Singapore Exchange, operator of the island's securities and derivatives markets, will search for a new chief executive both internally and externally and consider candidates from outside Singapore, Chairman J.Y. Pillay said.
Hsieh joined Singapore Exchange on March 1, 2003, after serving as managing partner of PrimePartners Group, a Singapore- based private equity firm, and working for BNP Prime Peregrine Group and Morgan Grenfell Asia Holdings Pte. The bourse, created in December 1999 by the merger of the Stock Exchange of Singapore and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange, reported record profit of S$478.3 million for the year ended June 30.
``I believe a role of any CEO should be limited in duration, only because there comes a time where I think it's time to move on,'' Hsieh told reporters after the company's annual general meeting. ``The organization should see someone with greater energy and a new perspective to take over.''
Hsieh said he's ``committed to stay'' until a successor is found. The exchange ``hopes to complete'' the process before Hsieh's current term expires in September 2009, Pillay said.
Short Sales
Hsieh also told reporters that the exchange won't lift measures introduced to improve disclosure on short selling in the city. The exchange said on Sept. 22 it will publish information on so-called naked short sales and introduce a penalty for failed trades will probably remain in place.
Singapore Exchange fell short of temporarily banning the practice, a move taken by regulators in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia in the past month to arrest the decline in regional markets.
``I will never say never, but you can tell that's not been our philosophy, by and large,'' Hsieh said.
Short-sellers try to profit by betting stock prices will fall. In a short sale, traders borrow shares from their broker that they then sell. If the price drops, they buy back the stock, return it to their broker and pocket the difference. In naked short sales, traders issue sell orders and don't borrow the shares.
Singapore's Straits Times Index has declined 33 percent this year as rising credit-market losses and soaring commodity prices raised concern global economic growth will slow.
For Related News:
Top South, Southeast Asia news: TOP SAS <GO> News on SGX's management: SGX SP <Equity> TCNI WNEWS <GO> Most-read Singapore stories: MNI SP <GO>
--With reporting by Andrea Tan in Singapore. Editors: James Unwin, Gareth Nicholson.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chen Shiyin in Singapore at +65-6212-1170 or [email protected].
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tony Jordan at +65-6212-1150 or [email protected].
