Kon Yeow confirms Jagdeep out of PBA Holdings board over attendance shortfall

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 2 — Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Jagdeep Singh Deo was deemed to have vacated from the PBA Holdings board because he failed to meet the minimum requirements set by Bursa Malaysia.

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the Datuk Keramat assemblyman had failed to achieve the minimum attendance of directors’ meetings.

“When any director fails to achieve minimum attendance, the company secretary need to lodge the information with Bursa Malaysia that the director is deemed to have vacated the post because he didn’t comply with the requirements,” he told reporters after attending the lighting ceremony of Penang Miaohui 2025 at Armenian Park last night.

Chow, who is also PBA Holdings Berhad chairman, said PBA Holdings only held five meetings for the board of directors each year.

“Part of it I think he was undergoing medical treatment but as a director of a listed company, each one must be aware of their respective responsibility of complying with the statutory requirement,” he said.

“Not only the attendance requirement, we sometimes have to undergo director’s course, ESG and all that,” he added.

Chow said directors may also be required to attend courses to comply with the requirements.

“This is part of the responsibility of accepting the appointment of a director of a listed company,” he said.

When asked if the board has a replacement to fill the vacated spot, he said there is no urgent need to fill it immediately.

“We still do not need to fill it up immediately because we have sufficient directors at the moment,” he said.

Yesterday, PBA posted a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Jagdeep vacating his post as a non-independent and non-executive director pursuant to Paragraph 15.05(3)(c) of the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd with immediate effect.

Under the requirement, the director is deemed to have vacated his spot if the director is absent from more than 50 per cent of the total board of directors’ meetings held during a financial year.

Jagdeep was appointed to the PBA Holdings board in September 2023.

There are 11 other individuals on the board, including Chow, Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Dr Mohamad Abdul Hamid, and state exco member Zairil Khir Johari.