Eagle Hospitality Trust's saga raises question mark over adequacy of IPO disclosure rules

THERE is always an element of opportunism to initial public offerings (IPOs). It's natural for companies to want to fetch the best price they can get for their assets.

But once a company becomes a public company, it also owes a duty to shareholders to be as forthcoming with information as possible, even if it is negatively perceived.

Panic selling tends to happen when investors feel that they've been blindsided. Confidence, once shaken, takes time to rebuild.

Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT), a newcomer to the Singapore Reit market, recently found itself in a nest of intrigue.

It all began with an old ship, the Queen Mary, that bobs up and down in a California bay as a gigantic floating…