Tan Chian Khong stepped down from his roles as lead independent director, audit committee chairman, and nominating committee chairman of CSE Global on June 2, 2026, following disagreements with board chairman Eugene Lai [1, 2].
The conflict began during a telephone call on May 19, when Lai expressed the need for a board refresh and suggested replacing Tan with someone having stronger mergers and acquisitions experience, according to Lai. Tan, however, described the call as a request by Lai for him to resign from his board and committee roles [1, 2].
Tan rejected the request on the grounds that he was elected by ordinary shareholders and accountable to them, asserting that asking him to step down early was a breach of good governance. Lai countered that he did not give an explicit instruction to resign and respected Tan’s right to serve his full term. He said the conversation reflected a view shared with controlling shareholder Heliconia that the company required refreshed board leadership to support its strategic needs [1, 2].
The disagreement continued for weeks in written correspondence before Tan ultimately resigned at the start of June [1, 2]. Both parties disclosed the details publicly on June 16, explaining the background to Tan’s decision and the differing accounts of the May 19 call [1, 2].
Tan’s departure creates vacancies in key independent oversight roles at CSE Global amid ongoing corporate governance scrutiny. The company is expected to announce a replacement lead independent director with mergers and acquisitions expertise in due course.
