Catherine Wu resigns as adviser to CDL subsidiary

Catherine Wu has resigned as an independent adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), a wholly owned subsidiary of City Developments Limited (CDL).

This comes after the CDL's executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng's son, Sherman Kwek, pointed to Wu as the primary cause of the dispute between him and his father.

According to CNA, Kwek Leng Beng issued a statement stating that the M&C board received the "irrevocable resignation of Dr Catherine Wu as an unpaid independent advisor, with immediate effect."

CDL's group chief executive officer (CEO) Sherman Kwek previously said, "the primary reason for the dispute relates to a very serious issue of corporate governance within the CDL Group arising from the conduct of one Dr Catherine Wu."

"The CDL CEO  had sought to justify his board coup and overt breaches of corporate governance with unproven insinuations about Wu," said Kwek Leng Beng, CNA reported.

"Now that Wu has resigned, the CEO and his team of directors no longer have any continuing basis to make such corporate governance allegations about CDL and to justify his board coup," said Kwek Leng Beng.

What did the younger Kwek say?

While Wu’s official role was adviser to the board of M&C, Sherman Kwek previously stated that she has been "interfering in matters going well beyond her scope" and "wields and exercises enormous influence."

"These matters have troubled us as directors," he added.

Sherman Kwek said that although efforts were made to handle the situation sensitively, considering Wu’s long relationship with the chairman, these efforts were unsuccessful.

As a result, they proposed a resolution to terminate Wu's advisory agreement with M&C’s board and another to affirm that Wu has no authority to influence or advise the directors, management, and staff of both the CDL and M&C Groups.

"We considered them to be necessary to protect the interests of the shareholders and relevant staff of the CDL Group, and to restore proper corporate governance and accountability."

These resolutions were passed by a majority of the board on Feb. 21, 2025.

The minority directors then filed an application for injunctions on Feb. 25, asking the court to urgently hear their case and reverse these resolutions.

However, their request was unsuccessful, Sherman Kwek shared.

"The majority directors are alive to their duties and will continue to uphold corporate governance and accountability within the CDL Group," he said.

Squabble

The feud between father and son began last week when Kwek claimed that his son and a group of directors had staged an "attempted coup".

Kwek filed court papers on Feb. 26, saying the action was necessary "to deal with this attempted coup at the board level and restore corporate integrity".

Sherman Kwek rebutted his father's claims, stating that his recent actions had "never been about ousting".

Sherman Kwek, on behalf of the majority of CDL Board Directors, said it was "extremely disappointing" that their Chairman and a minority of the City Developments Limited Board have decided to take these extreme actions regarding this disagreement around the size and make-up of the CDL Board.

He said that their focus as CEO and directors, as a Board majority and with clear guidance and support from their company and independent legal counsel, has always been to implement steps to improve governance.

CDL

CDL is a Singaporean multinational real estate company.

It celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.

It was founded in 1963, and Kwek Leng Beng, along with his brother Kwek Leng Joo and their father Kwek Hong Png, bought control of CDL in 1971.

Photo from Millennium Hotels and Resorts/LinkedIn