SINGAPORE: An independent review of internal processes at the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) has concluded without finding any evidence of suspicious activities, the organisation said on Tuesday (Sep 17).
The independent review was initiated after the SNEF council, which is the policy-making body of the federation, was informed of a “governance procedural lapse” during a routine internal review.
SNEF informed the public of the discovery of the lapse on Jun 11. On the same day, it also announced that president and council member Dr Robert Yap was stepping down.
The SNEF council “promptly” engaged an external consultant for a thorough review of its internal processes after the lapse was found, the federation said then.
In a media statement on Tuesday, SNEF said that “the independent review of internal processes by an external consultant has been concluded and it did not identify evidence that establishes that there were any suspicious, intentional or fraudulent activities”.
SNEF also said there was no impact on its financial statements.
“The council takes seriously SNEF’s responsibility in upholding governance ideals and made a firm stand to pursue an independent review of internal processes when the governance procedural lapse was brought to their attention,” SNEF said.
“The council will continue to look into and pursue efforts to further strengthen governance and internal processes within SNEF as we focus on advancing tripartism in Singapore.”
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that SNEF had informed it on the outcomes of the review.
“Based on the findings from the review, there were no suspicious activities detected from the procedural lapse that the SNEF council had discovered,” said the ministry.
“We appreciate SNEF’s efforts to address this matter decisively, and welcome SNEF’s commitment to embark on further efforts to strengthen its internal governance processes.”
MOM added in its statement that it has built a “strong tripartite relationship” with SNEF over the decades, and that “tripartism is the bedrock of Singapore’s industrial harmony and economic success”.
“We will continue to work with SNEF as our tripartite partner on the basis of trust, collaboration and a shared commitment to win-win solutions, as we continue to advance our economic and social goals for Singapore.”
In response to CNA’s queries on Tuesday, SNEF said its priority now is to “focus on how we can move forward”.
Council members will serve in their current roles until SNEF’s next annual general meeting, which is on Thursday.
SNEF did not answer CNA’s question on what the “governance procedural lapse” was.
MOM did not respond to queries on the lapse and review, saying that this concerned SNEF’s internal processes.
SNEF and MOM previously did not respond to queries that CNA sent, citing the lack of an update as the independent review was then still under way.
Dr Yap, who led SNEF for a decade, is the executive chairman of supply chain and logistics company YCH Group. CNA has also contacted him for more information.
SNEF is a trade union of employers that is one of the three tripartite partners alongside MOM and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
The federation is currently led by Mr Tan Hee Teck, chairman and CEO of Resorts World Sentosa, after he was unanimously elected as president in July.
