Two independent non-executive directors of casino investor LET Group Holdings Ltd have once again resigned from the firm’s board, following a brief return since May.
Tou Kin Chuen and John Lo Wai Tung, who first resigned in January, stepped down (again) as non-executive directors, effective from November 5, according to a company filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Mr Tou initially joined LET Group’s board in April 2012, while Mr Lo became a director in October 2012. Both had resigned on January 15 this year amid a board-level exodus within the company, only to rejoin in May.
Their latest departure comes as LET Group struggles with a trading suspension on the Hong Kong bourse.
In its filing, issued on Tuesday, the company reported that Mr Tou and Mr Lo “felt that they are unable to make a meaningful contribution towards assisting the company in resuming trading of its shares” on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
LET Group’s board expressed its “sincere gratitude to the resigning independent non-executive directors for their valuable support and contribution to the company during their tenure of office”.
The board of LET Group now only includes two people: executive director and chairman Andrew Lo Kai Bong; and independent non-executive director Bennie Kwok Kai Bun.
“The company will make every effort to identify suitable candidates to fill the vacancies for its independent non-executive directors,” stated the filing.
LET Group indirectly controls Suntrust Resort Holdings Inc, the Philippines-listed developer of an under-construction hotel casino at Westside City in the Philippine capital Manila.
LET Group has faced regulatory compliance challenges since January, following the departure of several board members after a sale attempt of the 온라인카지노사이트 Tigre de Cristal casino licence in Vladivostok, Russia. The potential deal, which would have transferred the gaming licence to a Russian buyer, was eventually terminated at the buyer’s request.
Trading in LET Group shares in Hong Kong – as well as of shares of its subsidiary Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd – has been suspended since February.
Hong Kong’s stock market regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, said in a September 27 statement that it had started legal proceedings “to seek a share repurchase order” to protect the interests of independent minority shareholders of LET Group and Summit Ascent.
The lawsuit was filed in Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance, “as a result of alleged misconduct of Mr [Andrew] Lo Kai Bong, chairman, executive director and controlling shareholder of both companies,” added the announcement.
In February, the Hong Kong stock market regulator said it was investigating LET Group and Summit Ascent for possible breach of its rules regarding an attempted deal to sell the Russian business.
Shareholders of LET Group approved in August a proposal to dispose of the group’s investment in the Tigre de Cristal casino resort.