SingPost fires three senior executives who were “grossly negligent”
Singapore Post (SingPost) has terminated the employment of three senior executives who were found “grossly negligent” in handling an internal investigation prompted by a whistleblower’s report.
The executives — Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vincent Phang, Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Vincent Yik, and Chief Executive of the International Business Unit Li Yu — were dismissed on 21 Dec.
Mr Phang has also been asked to step down as a director of SingPost and its related companies, reported The Straits Times.
Managers altered customer delivery data
The investigation stems from a whistleblower report regarding SingPost’s international business unit (IBU), which manages e-commerce logistics for international parcels.
The probe found that three IBU managers manually altered delivery data for one of the company’s largest customers, breaching standard processes.
The three managers were earlier terminated, and SingPost has since filed a police report against them.
Source: SingPost
An external law firm brought in to review management’s actions uncovered that Mr Phang, Mr Yik, and Mr Yu had been “grossly negligent” in their handling of the internal investigation.
The review highlighted their failure to consider material facts, which compromised decision-making and their duties to the company.
SingPost’s board stated it had “lost confidence and trust” in the trio’s ability to act in the company’s best interests.
SingPost has informed the affected customer of the findings and reached a settlement, including a monetary agreement to avoid penalties.
The customer has renewed its contract with SingPost, and the relationship remains intact.
Group CEO and CFO dispute termination
Following their termination, Mr Phang and Mr Yik announced plans to “vigorously contest” the decision, describing it as “without merits” and “procedurally unfair”.
In a statement reported by CNA, the former executives asserted that the investigation was handled by the company’s independent Group Internal Audit (GIA), and they had fully cooperated.
They “dutifully presented the case to GIA to investigate, providing it with the required space and latitude to conduct its investigation”.
The former Group CEO and Group CFO explained:
The board has stated that we had failed to consider material facts in the case. The facts unfolded over time and the causative correlation and impact was not established immediately. We had responded to questions based on facts that were presented to us at the time while respecting the independent investigation that was ongoing. We acted immediately once the correlation and impact had been established.
“We have at all times during our tenure at SingPost acted in the best interests of the company and held ourselves to the highest standards of leadership and management, and will seek recourse against any allegations to the contrary,” Mr Phang and Mr Yik stated.
SingPost’s postal services unaffected
In response to the executives’ termination, SingPost said it will announce the appointment of its new Group CEO in time.
Meanwhile, Isaac Mah, currently CFO of SingPost’s Australian arm FMH Group, will assume the Group CFO role.
An acting CEO will temporarily lead the IBU, while no immediate replacement for its international CEO has been proposed.
Source: SingPost
SingPost assured the public that its postal services would continue uninterrupted, as each business unit operates under its own leadership team.
However, the announcement caused SingPost’s share price to fall by over eight percent on Monday (23 Dec), reflecting investor concerns over the company’s governance, reported CNA.
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Post on Facebook, GDEX, UPU on Facebook
