Temasek must set example on transparency

May 18, 2009
SALE OF BoA STAKE
Temasek must set example on transparency

I REFER to last Saturday's column, 'Temasek should clear the air', on the massive loss arising from Temasek Holdings' sale of its stake in Bank of America (BoA).

Temasek is neither a private equity fund nor a hedge fund, but it handles billions of dollars which belong to Singaporeans.

BoA's share price ranged between US$2.53 and US$14.81 during the period Jan 2 to March 31, when the sale is believed to have been made. This makes it well-nigh impossible to guess the size of the loss, except that it must be in billions of dollars.

After being told that the investments were for the long term - when the markets in the United States crashed after Temasek had invested heavily in US financial stocks - Singaporeans expect Temasek to explain the timing of the sale and the reasons for it. Do the reasons relate specifically to BoA or generally to the US stock market? Surely it cannot be due to diversifying the geographical distribution of future investments.

Temasek must give the lead and be transparent if other listed companies on the Singapore Exchange are expected to do so.

Denis Distant

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