[4 January 2000]
Big Turn-Out At First Wharton-SMU Conference

Many were turned away as public response to the first conference organised by SMU and Wharton proved the timeliness of the conference focus: The Role of Stock Options in Staff Compensation Packages.

Over 300 participants from diverse industry sectors attended the one-day conference at the Shangri-La Hotel on 14 January 2000. Professor Janice Bellace, President of SMU, invited Guest-of-Honour, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Health and Second Minister for Finance, to officially open the conference. The Minister congratulated SMU and its co-organisers on focusing industry and private enterprise attention on such a topical issue.

Professor David Larcker from the Wharton School and Mr James Mitchell, Global Head, Global Executive Group/Managing Director and Mr Chris Young, Managing Director, Global Executive Group of UBS AG, delivered the keynote addresses. Other speakers included:

• Mr Jim Duffy, Executive Director,
  International Financial Systems
• Mr David Blair, Managing Director,
  Nokia Treasury Asia Pte Ltd
• Mr Wee Leong How, Senior Vice-President, Human Resources, Singapore Press Holdings
• Mrs Winnie Liew, Tax Partner,
  Arthur Andersen
• Mr Sum Yee Loong, Tax Partner,
  Deloitte & Touche
• Ms Alicia Yi, Compensation Practice Leader, Towers Perrin

Among the topics covered were introduction of stock options in staff compensation plans to meet specific business and personnel objectives, and opportunities and constraints in stock option plans. The experiences of UBS AG, Nokia, International Finanical Systems and Singapore Press Holdings were also showcased.

The conference was organised in conjunction with the National Science & Technology Board, the Singapore National Employers Federation, the Singapore Institute of Directors and the Singapore Confederation of Industries. The conference sponsors were UBS and International Financial Systems.