Teo Siong Seng will not seek re-election as SBF chairman, takes leave of absence from PIL, NUS

Shipping mogul Teo Siong Seng will take further leave of absence, which will now extend to his roles at Pacific International Lines (PIL) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), as he deals with accusations of price fixing by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

- Aqil Hamzah

The 71-year-old is executive chairman of PIL and one of 10 directors at the shipping firm, having taken over from his father - the late shipping tycoon Chang Yun Chung - on April 1, 2018.

His leave of absence from the company will be effective from June 8, he said in a statement on May 28.

He will also be taking leave of absence from his duties as a pro-chancellor at NUS from June 1.

This comes after news on May 22 that he will take time away from his role as chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and other related appointments.

These include being on the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, as well as being on the board of trade agency Enterprise Singapore.

In his first public statement since the US unsealed an indictment on May 19, which named him and six other shipping executives for allegedly colluding to fix the prices of dry containers, Mr Teo said: "I have proactively decided to take these leaves of absence to afford myself sufficient time to attend to this matter, and for the best interests of the aforementioned organisations."