Catherine Wu resigns as advisor to CDL hotel subsidiary amidst boardroom battle

Dr Catherine Wu, former advisor to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), has resigned from her position.

Dr Wu was at the forefront of the recent high-profile City Developments Limited (CDL) boardroom battle between CDL executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng and his son, CDL CEO Sherman Kwek.

Sherman Kwek had previously accused Dr Wu of "interfering in matters going well beyond her scope", adding that "she wields and exercises enormous influence".

In a press release on Tuesday (March 4), Kwek Leng Beng said that M&C — the hotel arm of CDL — has received the "irrevocable resignation" of Dr Wu as an unpaid independent advisor, with immediate effect.

"Now that Dr Wu has resigned, the CEO and his team of directors no longer have any continuing basis to make such corporate governance allegations about CDL and to justify his board coup," said the CDL executive chairman.

"It is high time that we restore investor confidence and ensure those breaches of corporate governance committed by the CEO and his team of directors, including breaches of the SGX listing rules and the Code of Corporate Governance, will never happen again."

Kwek Leng Beng had previously accused his son and a group of directors of an attempted coup, alleging major lapses in CDL's board independence and governance issues.

According to Sherman Kwek, CDL's minority directors served him and four others court papers on Feb 26 for a hearing that was held less than three hours later.

After the closed-door High Court hearing, Kwek Leng Beng said that newly appointed directors Jennifer Duong Young and Wong Su-Yen agreed not to exercise their powers until further court notice.

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Sherman Kwek has denied any attempt to oust the chairman.

In his statement on Tuesday, Kwek Leng Beng also said that it is time to focus on the issues that CDL must address. 

These include the Sincere Property "debacle" which caused CDL to lose $1.9 billion in FY2020, as well as the underperformance of CDL's share price since Sherman Kwek became CEO in 2018.

The chairman also pointed out that CDL's share price dropped further after the CEO and his team of directors breached relevant regulations.

This, Kwek Leng Beng said, is a sign of diminished investor confidence and growing shareholder apprehension.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com