SINGAPORE - A new director will helm the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) from Oct 1, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Tuesday (Aug 21).

Mr Denis Tang Siew Taeng, the current deputy commissioner of operations at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), will take over from Mr Wong Hong Kuan, who has served as CPIB director since 2013.

In a statement, the PMO said that President Halimah Yacob had, at her own discretion, agreed with the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to appoint Mr Tang.

Mr Tang will leave the ICA and join CPIB as its director-designate on Sept 17, before officially taking the reins from October.

He had served in several positions in the Home Team, before he joined ICA in 2016.

During his time at ICA, Mr Tang was credited with leading efforts to strengthen border security operations and sharpening ICA's intelligence capabilities in the face of the continuing terror threat.

Mr Tang also enhanced intelligence exchange with ICA's foreign partners to fight terrorism and transnational crimes, said the PMO.

The PMO also paid tribute to outgoing CPIB chief Mr Wong.

"Mr Wong strengthened the operational and investigations capability of the bureau, as well as internal controls and governance," said the PMO.

"Under his leadership, the bureau made significant strides in engaging external partners and implemented initiatives to promote good governance and ethical business practices in the private sector."

Mr Wong had led a national working group comprising various stakeholders to develop the ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management Systems Standard.

He also strengthened the CPIB's partnership with international organisations in its ongoing fight against cross-border corrupt practices, the PMO said.