Teo Swee Lian to be next SingPost chairman with Simon Israel retiring after 9 years

SINGAPORE – Singapore Post (SingPost) has named Ms Teo Swee Lian, who served many years at Singapore’s central bank, as chairman-designate to succeed Mr Simon Israel.

SingPost said on May 21 that she will assume the role after the next annual general meeting, when Mr Israel, 72, will retire after nine years at the helm.

Ms Teo will also be a non-independent, non-executive director. She will be appointed as an additional member of the finance and investment committee, compensation committee and nominations and corporate governance committee.

“Her appointment concludes the board renewal process, and she will lead the board in the ongoing strategic reset of the group,” Mr Israel said.

He added: “SingPost is undergoing a significant transformation to adapt to the evolving postal, e-commerce and logistics landscape. Her experience will contribute to the board’s oversight and direction for the new strategy.”

Ms Teo, 65, has more than 27 years of experience in financial services with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). From 2013 to 2015, she was MAS special adviser, managing director’s office. She also held other senior roles at MAS, including deputy managing director for financial supervision.

Ms Teo is also chairman and non-executive independent director of CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust Management and holds directorship positions at HSBC Holdings, among others.

SingPost, which is undergoing a strategic review and restructuring, has yet to appoint a new chief executive.

At the end of 2024, the company sacked three senior executives – including group CEO Vincent Phang – for mishandling whistle-blowing reports that revealed cases of data falsification at the company’s international business unit.

Mr Phang, along with chief financial officer Vincent Yik and international business unit CEO Yu Li, have hired lawyers and are contesting the decision.

Seven executives were also reported to have left the company in April. These include head of strategy and communications Lee Eng Keat, group chief people officer Sehr Ahmed, group chief information officer Noel Singgih, chief sustainability officer Michelle Lee and chief information security officer Audrey Teoh.

In February, SingPost said it will lay off around 45 workers in the coming months as part of efforts to trim operations.

After

selling its Australian business

in March, the group has taken steps to sharpen focus on its core business.

As part of restructuring efforts, the international cross-border business was reintegrated into the Singapore postal and logistics business to drive operational efficiencies.

For its second half-year, SingPost posted an

underlying net loss of $500,000

, reversing a $28.1 million profit in the same period in 2024.

SingPost shares closed 0.9 per cent lower at 56 cents on May 21.