GGRAsia – Silver Heritage appoints Ben Watiwat as CFO

Silver Heritage appoints Ben Watiwat as CFO

Oct 29, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Australia-listed casino operator Silver Heritage Group Ltd announced on Monday that it had nominated Ben Watiwat as the group’s new chief financial officer, effective November 5.

Mr Watiwat will be replacing Basil Jong, who is stepping down from his role as CFO “by mutual agreement with the board,” the company said in a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange. Mr Jong will stay with the group for a minimum of three months “to ensure an effective handover,” it added.

Silver Heritage operates the casino resort Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa (pictured in a file photo), in Nepal. The firm also manages a gaming operation at a hotel in the Nepal capital Kathmandu, and another in Vietnam.

According to Monday’s filing, Mr Watiwat joins Silver Heritage from SafetyCulture Pty Ltd, an Australian venture-backed software company where he held the position of head of finance and company secretary. The executive is described in the filing as a certified accountant, with extensive experience across corporate finance, accounting, and technology.

“Having worked with Ben for a number of years … I’m delighted he has accepted this role. Ben has significant experience and skills in capital management, compliance, risk, tax and reporting. Ben will be a significant asset for the business going forward,” said James Spenceley, Silver Heritage’s non-executive chairman, in a prepared statement included in the filing.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Watiwat said: “The business has enormous potential and I am looking forward to working with the team to capitalise on the platform they have created.”

Mike Bolsover, managing director and chief executive of the firm, told GGRAsia in September that the early repayment of some bonds without financial penalty, and the pledging of AUD13.1 million (US$9.3 million) in fresh capital from investors announced also in September gave the company the chance to ramp up operations at casino resort Tiger Palace.

The appointment of the new CFO was announced shortly after Silver Heritage said non-executive director Robert Benussi had resigned in order to “focus upon his other business interests”. Michael Bassett replaced him with immediate effect, Silver Heritage stated in a separate filing on Friday.

Silver Heritage’s Friday filing stated: “Mr Bassett has over 25 years direct experience in investment markets having held a variety of senior management roles in Australia and the United Kingdom.”