AGV executive director, probed by CAD, agrees to step down

AGV Group's executive director for Singapore operations, Albert Ang, has agreed to leave the Catalist-listed company as recommended by the nominating committee.

Mr Ang, 53, was investigated by the Singapore Police Force's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), which recently said there were reasonable grounds to believe he had committed an offence.

CAD had launched a probe into the offence of false trading and market rigging transactions under Section 197 of the Securities and Futures Act of Singapore.

Mr Ang was arrested and placed on bail in early September. On Thursday, he stated that he had not been formally charged in court for any such offence under the Act.

In light of these developments and "as a matter of prudence", the company's nominating committee had recommended to the board that Mr Ang should step down as it was inclined to take the position that he was no longer fit and proper to continue as an executive director, AGV said in a filing on Thursday night.

He had been unwilling to resign last month, maintaining his innocence and asking for time to consider and seek counsel on the matter.

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Mr Ang was placed on a leave of absence on Aug 7. He stepped down as a director of AGV and its subsidiaries on Thursday.

Before his latest role, Mr Ang had been the group's chief executive officer since 2016. He was redesignated as the company's executive director of Singapore operations this January, to be responsible for formulating new business development plans for the Singapore operations.

AGV on Thursday reiterated that his resignation will not affect the operations of the company and its subsidiaries.

The group's general manager for Singapore has stepped in to fulfil Mr Ang's duties and responsibilities to ensure the smooth running of the business and operations, AGV added.

CAD and the Monetary Authority of Singapore in July asked AGV for information and documents in relation to an alleged offence under the Securities and Futures Act. The offence was said to have been committed between July 2017 and March 2018.

Mr Ang has a deemed interest of about 23.1 million AGV shares, held by Asiagalv Capital, a limited partnership between Mr Ang and his brother James Ang, according to AGV's filing on Thursday. Mr James Ang, 50, was an executive director and chief operating officer of AGV, before stepping down in January this year to concentrate on his role as a director at the company's subsidiaries.

Shares of AGV, which provides hot-dipped galvanising services, gained 0.2 Singapore cent or 9.1 per cent to 2.4 cents at Thursday's close, before the announcement.