WHY DR TONY TAN SHOULD SAY SORRY FOR MULTI-BILLION DOLLARS LOSSES IN FOREIGN BANKS
Dr Tony Tan was born into a banking dynasty as the nephew of Tan Chin Tuan. He was a Finance Minister. He is a bank tycoon with significant stakes in Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation. He was Chairman and Chief Executive of OCBC.
He has been in GIC from its inception till the end of June 2011. When the $24.2 billion purchases were made on UBS and Citigroup, he was both the Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of GIC. He was effectively, the Chief Executive of GIC.
Normally, GIC does not take significant stakes in any business. In the case of UBS and Citigroup, it made exceptions under the leadership of Dr Tony Tan. The outcome has been disastrous. Multi-billion dollars losses can be seen from the stock price charts of both Citigroup and UBS. Citigroup had a reverse stock split which may confuse some observers. Its stock price has fallen far more than that of UBS.
If Dr Tan had used OCBC shares or capital to purchase these two foreign banks, OCBC will be in very deep troubles or even bankrupt today. Just because he used the reserves of Singaporeans does not mean he should shamelessly escape responsibilities and accountability. If the Prime Minister can say sorry for the escape of Mas Selamat, why can't a Presidential candidate own up to his expensive mistakes that cost every Singaporeans; few of whom are as wealthy as he is.
Dr Tan may not live to see his foreign banks stocks return in value to their prices in early 2008. So, why does he emphasize long term with his spectacles logo for his campaign? His most appropriate logo should be a GIANT SORRY!
http://singaporereserves.blogspot.com
