Sias Calls for Independent Inquiry Over Dismissal of SingPost Execs

More details needed so shareholders can make informed decisions, it says

- Sue-Ann Tan

An independent professional inquiry should be called to look into the circumstances that led to Singapore Post (SingPost) firing three of its executives, said the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, as shareholders deserve to know what exactly happened.

"The sudden dismissal of three senior executives from SingPost, coupled with their vigorous denial of the allegations against them, has raised critical questions in the minds of shareholders, investors and the market," said Mr David Gerald, Sias president and chief executive, in a Jan 2 statement to The Straits Times.

"The fact that they were told to leave with immediate effect points to an extremely serious breach of the rules, which in turn necessitates detailed explanations."

He added that "the disclosures from the company and the responses from the three executives thus far raise more questions than provide answers".

SingPost's group CEO Vincent Phang, group chief financial officer Vincent Yik and CEO of the company's international business unit Li Yu were fired on Dec 21 after it concluded investigations into a whistle-blower's report.

The report alleged that the delivery status codes on parcels to be delivered for an international e-commerce customer had been falsely changed to "delivery failure", when no attempts were made to deliver them, in order to avoid penalties.

SingPost disclosed in a Dec 22 exchange filing that it received the whistle-blower's report earlier in 2024 relating to its international e-commerce logistics parcels business.

In the days that followed, SingPost disclosed more information, including a timeline of events and the investigations into both the whistle-blowing report and management's handling of the report.