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Singapore GIC says turned down UBS board seat offer
Sun, Jan 27 2008SINGAPORE, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) turned down an offer of a seat on the board of UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to assuage concerns the city-state might take control of the Swiss bank, local media reported on Monday, quoting GIC Deputy Chairman Tony Tan.
"As a financial investor, investing not only in UBS but also in other banks, and in the light of our intention to clearly not seek any control of UBS, ... we will not be taking up the seat on the board," the Business Times newspaper quoted Tan as saying.
Tan, a former Singapore deputy prime minister, spoke to Singapore media on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.
In the rare interview on the workings of the sovereign wealth fund, Tan also disclosed that GIC, which invests Singapore's foreign exchange reserves, was holding a lot of cash at the time of its multi-billion investments in UBS and Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as it had been concerned about a runup in share prices.
"We thought that the level of leverage in the US market was excessive, risk was not being priced correctly, asset prices were going up at a rate which was not sustainable."
"We felt that under these circumstances, we should move towards a more conservative portfolio and convert part of our equity holdings into cash, which is something we have not done for many years," he said.
GIC drew global attention earlier this month when it bought $6.88 billion worth of Citigroup convertible stock, just one month after it injected nearly $10 billion in UBS.
The fund says on its web site that it manages well over $100 billion.
Tan said the events that led to GIC's investments in Citbank and UBS were highly unusual.
"We will not do this on a regular basis," Tan said.
He said while the fund was always on the lookout for opportunities, "there won't be another confluence of events which this opportunity again".
Tan said GIC was drafting a "document", possibly by the second quarter, that tells more about its investment process and purposes, and governance.
He said 80 percent of GIC's assets were in American and European markets but it has steadily increased its investments in markets like China, Inda and southeast Asia. (Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Valerie Lee)
- http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/28/singapore-gic-idUSSIN9630520080128
Sun, Jan 27 2008SINGAPORE, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) turned down an offer of a seat on the board of UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to assuage concerns the city-state might take control of the Swiss bank, local media reported on Monday, quoting GIC Deputy Chairman Tony Tan.
"As a financial investor, investing not only in UBS but also in other banks, and in the light of our intention to clearly not seek any control of UBS, ... we will not be taking up the seat on the board," the Business Times newspaper quoted Tan as saying.
Tan, a former Singapore deputy prime minister, spoke to Singapore media on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.
In the rare interview on the workings of the sovereign wealth fund, Tan also disclosed that GIC, which invests Singapore's foreign exchange reserves, was holding a lot of cash at the time of its multi-billion investments in UBS and Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as it had been concerned about a runup in share prices.
"We thought that the level of leverage in the US market was excessive, risk was not being priced correctly, asset prices were going up at a rate which was not sustainable."
"We felt that under these circumstances, we should move towards a more conservative portfolio and convert part of our equity holdings into cash, which is something we have not done for many years," he said.
GIC drew global attention earlier this month when it bought $6.88 billion worth of Citigroup convertible stock, just one month after it injected nearly $10 billion in UBS.
The fund says on its web site that it manages well over $100 billion.
Tan said the events that led to GIC's investments in Citbank and UBS were highly unusual.
"We will not do this on a regular basis," Tan said.
He said while the fund was always on the lookout for opportunities, "there won't be another confluence of events which this opportunity again".
Tan said GIC was drafting a "document", possibly by the second quarter, that tells more about its investment process and purposes, and governance.
He said 80 percent of GIC's assets were in American and European markets but it has steadily increased its investments in markets like China, Inda and southeast Asia. (Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Valerie Lee)
- http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/28/singapore-gic-idUSSIN9630520080128
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