How far do directors' duties extend?

CAMSING Healthcare's independent directors (IDs) came under fire last week, for quitting the board before the company's audit issues were resolved. In an unprecedented move, Singapore Exchange Regulation's (SGX RegCo) firmly worded Notice of Compliance (NoC) to Camsing's board made no bones about its unhappiness with the directors' move, even going so far as to warn them that they may not be deemed suitable for directorships in future.

SGX RegCo's swift response utilises one of its newly minted powers which, in this instance, enabled it to act more nimbly than in a typical enforcement action. The regulator's move has to be lauded for setting the right tone for the market's expectations of directors' responsibilities, going forward - and for giving us the opportunity to address the question of just how far directors' duties go.

To recap: Camsing's three IDs resigned from the board, with effect from March 20, after the company's auditors flagged various audit matters to the company for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2019. The auditors had said they would be unable to finalise their audit until clarity is obtained on several substantial transactions entered into by the company during the period in question.