Lew Syn Pau

Lew Syn Pau
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lew.

Lew Syn Pau (Chinese: 刘信保; pinyin: Líu Xìnbăo; Wade–Giles: Liu2 Hsin4 Pao3) is a former Member of Parliament for the Kreta Ayer-Tanglin Group Representation Constituency in Singapore as a People's Action Party politician. Since 2002, he has been President of the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation (SMa). In 2005, he was charged under the Companies Act for contravening Section 76(1)(a)(i)(A) of the Companies Act (alleged illegal financial assistance) but was acquitted in August 2006.

Education

A Singapore Government scholar, Lew Syn Pau began his career with the Singapore Civil Service. He holds a Masters of Engineering from Cambridge University UK, and a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford University, USA.

Political Career

From 1988 to 2001, Lew was a Member of Parliament. He was also Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development.[1]

Corporate Directorship

According to corporate appointment announcements to the Singapore Exchange, Lew, along with Chow Kok Kee and Wee Cow Jaw, has the most directorships of any person in Singapore.[2] He is director of the following companies:[3]

Breach of Companies Act

In 2005, he was charged under the Companies Act for contravening Section 76(1)(a)(i)(A) of the Companies Act (alleged illegal financial assistance). Lew was accused of abetting Wong Sheung Sze, chairman of Broadway Industrial Group, in unlawfully giving financial assistance to a third party to buy shares in the company.[4] The shares purchase would in turn allow Broadway to take up a $6 million loan from United Overseas Bank. Wong was accused of authorising the loan. .

To help seek out potential investors, the firm appointed several advisers, one of whom was Lew, who ran his own business consultancy firm, Capital Connections. Lew subsequently found Indonesian businessman, Mr Dick Tan Beng Phiau, of Silver Touch, who was however unable to cough up cash for the Broadway shares. Wong then authorised Broadway's wholly owned subsidiary, Mauritius-based Compart Asia Pacific, to lend $4.2 million to Lew, who was also a director of Compart. Lew in turn loaned $4 million to Mr Tan. While it is illegal under Singapore law to give financial aid to a third party for the purpose of purchasing company shares, defence lawyers argue that the loan was legal as it was made by a foreign subsidiary, which is a separate legal entity from the parent company. According to court documents, Lew's company, Capital Connections, received from Wong a 1% ($66,000) commission — out of the $6.6 million raised — for the successful placement of 33 million units of Broadway shares to Silver Touch. .

Defense lawyers argued that the loan was legal because it was made by an overseas subsidiary, Compart Asia Pacific, the Mauritius-incorporated unit of Broadway. Lew was alleged to have taken a director's loan in 2004 of S$4.2 million from that company.[5]

In August 2006, Lew and Wong were acquitted by the Singapore High Court.[6][7]

References

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