24th Jan 2008
"The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are among the most secretive. Mr Lee said during a visit to Saudi Arabia that GIC, which he chairs, planned to become more transparent. Tony Tan, GIC deputy chairman and a former Singapore deputy prime minister, has been leading the discussions with the IMF, Mr Lee said.
GIC, which has up to an estimated $330bn in assets, has recently gained a high profile by taking stakes in UBS and Citigroup in the wake of the subprime credit crisis.
The IMF earlier urged GIC to make more disclosures about its operations in line with those adopted by Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investment company, which publishes an annual report.
Singapore until now has refused to do so, saying that since GIC manages the city-state’s foreign reserves, any disclosure about the size of the fund and its annual performance could make it vulnerable to currency speculators.
“We will not disclose how much we invest in each particular sector because that’s sensitive financial information, which will affect our future purchases, but we’re prepared to say this is what we’re doing in this sector and that sector,” said Mr Lee."
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