<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>1 man, 152 board seats: INVESTORS ASK: CAN HE COPE?
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>DBS shareholder raises issue of Christopher Cheng's directorships at AGM </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Su Shyan , ASSISTANT MONEY EDITOR
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
THE disclosure that DBS Group Holdings independent director Christopher Cheng Wai Chee (left) is a director of 152 companies has left some investors uneasy.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE disclosure that DBS Group Holdings independent director Christopher Cheng Wai Chee is a director of 152 companies has left some investors uneasy.
It has also highlighted the way some business people here accumulate large numbers of board seats, raising the fear that they are spreading themselves too thin to carry out their duties effectively.
The issue was raised at the recent DBS annual general meeting when a shareholder asked about the sheer number of boards that Mr Cheng was involved in.
Hong Kong-based Mr Cheng is the chairman of Hong Kong-listed USI Holdings, a unit of Singapore-listed Wing Tai Holdings.
He is the brother of Wing Tai chairman Cheng Wai Keung and its deputy chairman Edmund Cheng.
Many of Mr Cheng's directorships relate to Wing Tai's extensive interests in Hong Kong and China. Wing Tai started as a garment manufacturer in Hong Kong in the 1950s and has expanded into property development and management. It is also into fashion retail with the G2000 and Topshop brands.
USI in Hong Kong has property businesses and also handles contract manufacturing for international clothing labels. In addition to being the chairman of USI, Mr Cheng also sits on the board of Savile Row tailor Gieves and Hawkes, which is owned by USI.
His other board seats include various appointments in Hong Kong, such as being a director of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Securities and Futures Commission and the China Economic Research Foundation.
But he sits on only six listed-company boards, including Singapore-listed Kingboard Chemical. The bulk of his directorships are shell companies.
DBS chairman Koh Boon Hwee had said that it is common to set up such companies in the property and shipping sectors.
With Wing Tai being a large property developer, most of the companies relate to property development.
The issue of Mr Cheng's extensive directorships was also raised at last year's DBS AGM. He was standing for re-election as a director but was not present.
Mr Koh's response then was to highlight Mr Cheng's diligence.
He pointed out that in 2007, Mr Cheng had attended seven of the eight board meetings after being appointed as a DBS director in June that year.
As for last year, Mr Cheng attended 10 of the 11 board meetings and four of the five audit committee meetings.
He attended only one of the three compensation and management development meetings but he had been appointed to this committee only in November last year.
The number of board seats held by directors has always been one of the concerns among investors.
A check of listed companies showed that former MP Wang Kai Yuen sits as an independent director on the boards of 10 listed companies in Singapore. In addition, he chairs some of these boards, including that of China Aviation Oil and printing company Xpress Holdings.
Trained accountant Lien Kait Long sits on nine listed company boards in Singapore. These range from processed seafood supplier Ocean International, water membrane player Memstar Technology and Tat Seng Packaging.
His biographic information states that he has held posts in accounting and finance, corporate management and business investment.
Corporate governance expert Mak Yuen Teen reckons some independent directors do sit on too many boards.
Some have jobs in addition to their directors' duties that include attending audit committee and board meetings.
He said that only a quarter of listed companies disclose all the board seats a director holds. This means shareholders are none the wiser as to how busy their directors are.
However, a study by the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) nearly four years ago showed that about 60 per cent of directors held only between one and three directorships.
Its latest survey of board practices will be out next month. SID president John Lim said: 'Contrary to impressions, the number of directors who hold several directorships is not significant.'
He said that SID advocates there should be a limit in terms of the number of board seats held by directors but does not think one number can apply to all.
'We have always advocated that directors must discharge their duties responsibly by making sure they devote sufficient time and resources to meeting those duties,' he said.
Nominating committees also have a duty to satisfy themselves that the directors they plan to appoint are able to perform their duties, Mr Lim added. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>DBS shareholder raises issue of Christopher Cheng's directorships at AGM </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Su Shyan , ASSISTANT MONEY EDITOR
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
THE disclosure that DBS Group Holdings independent director Christopher Cheng Wai Chee (left) is a director of 152 companies has left some investors uneasy.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE disclosure that DBS Group Holdings independent director Christopher Cheng Wai Chee is a director of 152 companies has left some investors uneasy.
It has also highlighted the way some business people here accumulate large numbers of board seats, raising the fear that they are spreading themselves too thin to carry out their duties effectively.
The issue was raised at the recent DBS annual general meeting when a shareholder asked about the sheer number of boards that Mr Cheng was involved in.
Hong Kong-based Mr Cheng is the chairman of Hong Kong-listed USI Holdings, a unit of Singapore-listed Wing Tai Holdings.
He is the brother of Wing Tai chairman Cheng Wai Keung and its deputy chairman Edmund Cheng.
Many of Mr Cheng's directorships relate to Wing Tai's extensive interests in Hong Kong and China. Wing Tai started as a garment manufacturer in Hong Kong in the 1950s and has expanded into property development and management. It is also into fashion retail with the G2000 and Topshop brands.
USI in Hong Kong has property businesses and also handles contract manufacturing for international clothing labels. In addition to being the chairman of USI, Mr Cheng also sits on the board of Savile Row tailor Gieves and Hawkes, which is owned by USI.
His other board seats include various appointments in Hong Kong, such as being a director of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Securities and Futures Commission and the China Economic Research Foundation.
But he sits on only six listed-company boards, including Singapore-listed Kingboard Chemical. The bulk of his directorships are shell companies.
DBS chairman Koh Boon Hwee had said that it is common to set up such companies in the property and shipping sectors.
With Wing Tai being a large property developer, most of the companies relate to property development.
The issue of Mr Cheng's extensive directorships was also raised at last year's DBS AGM. He was standing for re-election as a director but was not present.
Mr Koh's response then was to highlight Mr Cheng's diligence.
He pointed out that in 2007, Mr Cheng had attended seven of the eight board meetings after being appointed as a DBS director in June that year.
As for last year, Mr Cheng attended 10 of the 11 board meetings and four of the five audit committee meetings.
He attended only one of the three compensation and management development meetings but he had been appointed to this committee only in November last year.
The number of board seats held by directors has always been one of the concerns among investors.
A check of listed companies showed that former MP Wang Kai Yuen sits as an independent director on the boards of 10 listed companies in Singapore. In addition, he chairs some of these boards, including that of China Aviation Oil and printing company Xpress Holdings.
Trained accountant Lien Kait Long sits on nine listed company boards in Singapore. These range from processed seafood supplier Ocean International, water membrane player Memstar Technology and Tat Seng Packaging.
His biographic information states that he has held posts in accounting and finance, corporate management and business investment.
Corporate governance expert Mak Yuen Teen reckons some independent directors do sit on too many boards.
Some have jobs in addition to their directors' duties that include attending audit committee and board meetings.
He said that only a quarter of listed companies disclose all the board seats a director holds. This means shareholders are none the wiser as to how busy their directors are.
However, a study by the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) nearly four years ago showed that about 60 per cent of directors held only between one and three directorships.
Its latest survey of board practices will be out next month. SID president John Lim said: 'Contrary to impressions, the number of directors who hold several directorships is not significant.'
He said that SID advocates there should be a limit in terms of the number of board seats held by directors but does not think one number can apply to all.
'We have always advocated that directors must discharge their duties responsibly by making sure they devote sufficient time and resources to meeting those duties,' he said.
Nominating committees also have a duty to satisfy themselves that the directors they plan to appoint are able to perform their duties, Mr Lim added. [email protected]
