1 week Ago
SINGAPORE: Singapore Post on Dec 21 sacked three top executives in a move that experts have described as “unprecedented” for a Singapore firm . The company terminated the employment of its group CEO Vincent Phang, group CFO Vincent Yik and the chief executive of the company’s international business unit Li Yu. SingPost said this was due to their “grossly negligent” behaviour in the handling of internal investigations into a whistleblower report.
Here is what we know so far about the saga: Dec 22, 2024: SingPost said in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing late Sunday night that it had sacked its group CEO, group CFO and head of the international business unit the day before. The company had received a whistleblowing report earlier in the year about the group’s non-regulated international e-commerce logistics parcel business. It alleged that there were manual entries of certain delivery status codes by the international business unit.
These were for parcels that the company agreed to deliver under an agreement with “one of its largest customers”. This customer was not named. The manual entries were allegedly done to avoid the payment of certain contractual penalties to the customer.
There was no basis for doing so and it was done without supporting documents. An investigation was launched, and disciplinary proceedings were taken against three managers. They were sacked and a police report was made against them.
External professional advisers were engaged to review the matter independently of management. SingPost said the three senior executives were found to be “grossly negligent” in their handling of internal investigations into the whistleblowing reports and renewal of the agreement. They had “omitted to consider material facts” and they had “failed to perform their duties responsibly and reliably”, said SingPost.
Dec 23, 2024: Two of the sacked executives – Mr Phang and Mr Yik – released a statement in the morning saying their firing was unfair and without merits . They said they were disappointed with the decision, and would “vigorously contest” the sacking. The pair claimed they acted in accordance with the company’s guidelines on whistleblowing reports and had acted in the best interests of the company.
Investors reacted badly to the news of the terminations, and its share price fell by over 8 per cent when trading started. By the end of the trading day, SingPost shares saw a sharp selloff , and the stock was down 10.7 per cent.
Experts said the sacking of three top executives in one day was “unprecedented” for a Singapore firm, and that this case would likely become a “reference case” for Singapore’s corporate governance landscape. Later that night, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) issued an advisory to SingPost to “uphold proper governance and processes” and said it was monitoring the situation closely. The company has told the authority that postal service operations in Singapore are not affected.
Dec 24, 2024: A day after the former group CEO and group CFO said they would contest their sacking, SingPost said it was “confident” of its legal position. A spokesperson told CNA that it would address this at the “appropriate time and forum if necessary”, but could not provide further comment “in light of possible litigation”. In a post on LinkedIn, Mr Yu said he would also contest his sacking.
In words similar to Mr Phang and Mr Yik, Mr Yu also said his sacking was unfair and without merit. He added that he would “robustly defend his position in the proper forum” and denied he was “grossly negligent” in his duties. The international business unit was only announced in March following a “strategic review” by the company.
Dec 29, 2024: SingPost put up two filings on SGX, again late Sunday night – one with replies to questions from the Securities Investors Association (SIAS) and another with a media release and reply to questions from stakeholders. SIAS asked if SingPost would publish the key findings of the internal investigation report. In its reply to the retail investor watchdog, SingPost pointed to previous announcements and said the internal investigations will not be published .
It also said the contract with the customer was renewed in August, but its terms were confidential, as was the settlement. SingPost said the settlement “did not have a material impact” on tis net profit, net tangible assets or earnings per share in the last financial year. The company released a detailed timeline of events to its stakeholders, saying its decision to sack the three top executives was “carefully considered”.
It expanded on its plans, including that it intends for Mr Isaac Mah, the current CFO of its Australian business – to return to Singapore to take up the group CFO position. Earlier in December, SingPost said it was selling FMH to a private equity firm for a cash consideration of A$775.9 million (US$504.
1 million). The company also appointed a new CEO of the international business unit, with the appointment of a new group CEO to be announced “in due course”. Dec 31, 2024: Two days after SingPost’s announcements and detailed timeline, Mr Phang and Mr Yik said in a joint statement that they were not aware of the full facts of the matter when asked for their views during the internal investigation.
SingPost had claimed they made “false assertions” during investigations into the falsification of the unit’s parcel shipment data. The pair said they were asked for their views on Mar 11 and Apr 3 and "responded accordingly based on the facts that were provided to us at that time". "Full facts came to light to us only after the external forensics team’s investigations established the causative correlation on Apr 27, 2024," they added.
They also said a "significant majority" of the shipments in question were linked to destinations where there were known issues, such as conflict zones like Israel. Jan 2, 2025: SingPost said it works with customers to identify suitable alternatives if “unforeseen circumstances” mean deliveries cannot be made. This is the company’s general approach instead of resorting to false manual delivery failure data entries when in fact no attempt at delivery was made.
It said its contracts have a clause to cover situations where it is too dangerous to deliver. This clause states that the company "shall not be liable for any loss or damage" arising from its failure or delay to perform its obligations under agreements with customers, if the failure or delay is the result of "any circumstances outside its reasonable control". It includes the outbreak of or any act of hostility, weather conditions, or any other circumstances affecting the supply of goods and services.
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