GGRAsia – Investor reps raised to Donaco executive directors

Investor reps raised to Donaco executive directors

Feb 11, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Two representatives of an institutional investor – people who in August had first been made non-executive directors of Asian casino operator Donaco International Ltd prior to an overhaul of the entire board at the end of last year – have now been made executive directors of the gaming group.

A Tuesday filing to the Australian Securities Exchange said Kurkye Wong and Leo Chan Yan Ho would – in their fresh executive-director roles – work on “legal, operational and financial matters” for the company, including “corporate activity and strategic projects, as well as investor relations matters”.

Messrs Wong and Chan initially had involvement with Donaco as representatives of institutional investor Argyle Street Management Ltd. Donaco runs a border casino in Cambodia serving chiefly Thai players, and one in Vietnam near that country’s border with China.

The men’s fresh designation as Donaco executive directors come days after it was announced that experienced corporate lawyer Ben Reichel – who had been the company’s general counsel and secretary – would be leaving Donaco with effect from this Wednesday (February 12), although would continue to help as a consultant. Mr Reichel had already resigned from the firm’s board in November.

Argyle Street Management was founded in Hong Kong in 2002 and – according to the latest Donaco filing – presently manages US$1.7 billion in assets. Mr Chan is an executive director of Argyle Street Management and Mr Wong is a vice-president of the company.

They will continue to be based in Hong Kong for their new executive-director roles at Donaco, and each man will be paid an annual salary of AUD200,000 (about US$134,000), a sum that includes the existing fees payable to them as Donaco directors.

The contracts – drawn up under Hong Kong law – can be terminated by either of the new executive directors or the company “on six months’ notice, except in the case of serious misconduct,” said Tuesday’s filing.