The Wall Street Journal, 31 Aug 2009
Temasek released a revised charter last week that emphasized that the Singaporean state-owned fund is managed on "commercial principles" and eradicated any reference to government investment. That's a commendable goal, but it skirts the basic conflict of interest between the public interest of protecting citizens' earnings and the private-market imperative of taking risks to seek returns.
This issue of transparency has come to the fore in the city-state of late because the approximately 127 Singaporean dollar ($88 billion) fund lost a bundle in last year's financial crisis and the new CEO-designate, Chip Goodyear, inexplicably resigned in July. The public uproar is loud enough that even legislators from the ruling People's Action Party have asked for more disclosure.
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