SINGAPORE: Singapore Post (SingPost) has fired three senior executives following an investigation into a whistle-blower report received earlier this year.
The immediate terminations announced on Dec 21, 2024, involved group CEO Vincent Phang, CFO Vincent Yik, and the International Business Unit (IBU) CEO, Li Yu.
According to The Straits Times, Mr Phang, who became group CEO in September 2021, was also asked to step down from his role as SingPost’s director and its affiliated companies, in line with his contractual obligations, as per the company’s bourse filing on Dec 22.
SingPost said it will announce a new group CEO in due course. In the interim, Isaac Mah, the current CFO of FMH Group, SingPost’s Australian business, will assume the role of group CFO.
An acting CEO for the IBU will also be appointed, with the company noting that no permanent replacement for Mr Li is proposed at this stage. Board chairman Simon Israel will take on a larger role in guiding and overseeing the senior management team.
The decision follows a whistle-blower’s report related to SingPost’s non-regulated international e-commerce logistics business earlier this year. The company said the report led to an internal investigation which uncovered “serious breaches of the company’s code of conduct.”
The investigation revealed that three IBU managers had made manual updates to deliveries for one of the company’s largest customers, bypassing standard procedures.
These employees were dismissed earlier, and SingPost has filed a police report against them. It also hired an external law firm to review the management’s actions in the case.
The review found that Mr Phang, Mr Yik, and Mr Li had been “grossly negligent” in handling the internal investigation. They failed to consider important facts that affected their decision-making and/or did not perform their duties properly.
The review found that the three executives did not exercise due diligence, leading to a breach of their responsibilities to the company. As a result, the board said it had “lost confidence and trust” in their judgment and ability to protect the company’s interests.
Mr Phang and Mr Yik, through their lawyers, have stated they will strongly challenge their dismissals, both on the grounds of merit and procedural fairness.
SingPost has assured that postal services in Singapore will not be affected by these changes, as each of its business segments has its own leadership team. The company also clarified that its business operations would continue normally.
As part of the fallout from the whistle-blower report, SingPost informed the affected customer of the findings and reached a settlement with them. While details of the settlement have not been fully disclosed, SingPost confirmed that it would pay a settlement sum in lieu of penalties.
The company does not expect this settlement to significantly impact its financial performance for the current financial year. Moreover, its relationship with the customer remains intact, with the contract renewed following the settlement.
Prior to the announcement on Dec 20, SingPost’s shares closed at 56 cents. On Monday’s open, Dec 23, the share price was 51.5 cents. /TISG
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