Singapore's Ideal: A Singaporean CEO For Temasek

新加坡财政部长尚达曼(Tharman Shanmugaratnam)说，国有投资公司淡马锡(Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.)的首席执行长最好是新加坡公民，但政府不会干预也不会限制淡马锡在有关人选问题上的决定。尚达曼在议会表示，淡马锡的首席执行长是否是新加坡人的问题并非无足轻重；这是内阁在做出决定前非常认真加以考虑并争论的问题。他说，最理想的结果是我们能有一位新加坡公民担任首席执行长；这是一种理想，是指在其它条件完全相同的两位候选人中，我认为我们会倾向于选择新加坡人。这种理想并不一定实现。重要的是董事会应在新加坡人的控制下。尚达曼强调，这家投资公司不会受到政府的干预，政府也不会限制淡马锡对首席执行长的选择。尚达曼说，政府不会直接管理首席执行长的接替过程。这将使首席执行长的任命成为一项政治决定。政府决不会这样做。淡马锡在今年7月份称，公司与前继任首席执行长顾之博(Charles "Chip" Goodyear)都同意分手，主要原因是在某些战略问题上存在分歧。顾之博生于美国，曾任矿业巨头必和必拓(BHP Billiton Ltd.)的首席执行长。知情人士当时说，一些人认为，顾之博有关公司新的战略方向的方案过于冒险，他还计划对高级管理层做出一些改变，这未得到淡马锡董事会的普遍认可。淡马锡首席执行长何晶7月份时说，顾之博的离职是双方在友好气氛下共同做出的决定。尚达曼说，淡马锡的领导层是得力的，无论是首席执行长还是董事会都是如此。他说，他们这些年来让淡马锡保持了总体来说相当出色的投资业绩。由于全球经济减速和金融危机，淡马锡的投资出现了亏损。何晶上月末说，截至今年3月份，淡马锡的投资组合比上年同期缩水了400多亿新元（275.4亿美元）。这家公司管理的投资组合总值为1,270亿新元。尚达曼说，与其他公司相比，淡马锡的表现很不错了，没有理由要求现任首席执行长下台。他说，作为淡马锡的股东，政府非常希望淡马锡能有强有力的领导层。P.R. Venkat相关阅读淡马锡尝试新策略 2009-07-31淡马锡投资组合较去年缩水22% 2009-07-30淡马锡：何晶将继续担任首席执行长 2009-07-21淡马锡与中行商谈在华设立基金 2009-07-09 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年08月19日10:08', 'TEMAH.YY'));Temasek Holdings总部地点：新加坡(Singapore)股票代码：TEM


Singapore's finance minister said state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.'s chief executive would ideally be Singaporean, but the government won't interfere in nor restrict Temasek's decision in the selection process.'The question of whether the CEO of Temasek should be a Singaporean is not a trivial one; it is one which cabinet considered very carefully and debated on before arriving at a decision,' Tharman Shanmugaratnam told lawmakers in Parliament.'Ideally, we should have a Singaporean as the CEO; that's the ideal and everything else being equal and you look at two candidates who are equally suitable for the job, I think we should prefer to have a Singaporean,' he said. 'The ideal is not always possible. What is critical is that the board remains in the control of Singaporeans.'Mr. Tharman stressed that the investment company is independent from government interference and that the government prefers not to put restrictions on Temasek in its CEO search.'The government does not directly manage the process of chief executive succession. To do so would make the appointment of the chief executive a political decision, which it must never be,' Mr. Tharman said.In July, Temasek said it and former CEO-designate Charles 'Chip' Goodyear, a U.S.-born executive who was formerly chief of mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., mutually agreed to part ways, citing differences on 'certain strategic issues.'A person familiar with the situation said at the time that Mr. Goodyear's proposals for the firm's new strategic direction were considered too risky by some, and that he also planned some changes to the senior management that weren't well-received by Temasek's board.Temasek CEO Ho Ching said in July that Mr. Goodyear's departure was 'mutual and amicable.'The finance minister said Temasek's leadership remains strong, at both the CEO and board level. 'They have enabled Temasek to sustain its generally superior overall investment performance over the years,' he said.Temasek suffered losses on its investments due to the global slowdown and financial crisis. Ms. Ho said late last month that Temasek's portfolio fell more than S$40 billion (US$27.54 billion) at the end of March from a year earlier. The company manages a portfolio valued at S$127 billion.Mr. Tharman said Temasek had done 'rather well' compared with other companies and that there was no 'push factor' for the current CEO to step down. 'As shareholder of Temasek, the government has a clear interest in Temasek continuing to have strong leadership,' he said.P.R. Venkat