Date: July 28, 2017
We are deeply saddened by the demise of our Honorary Chairman, Mr Magnus Böcker. In spite of his setback in health, when he found out he was well following the diagnosis and treatment of his cancer, he readily responded to our call to join SIAS as our Honorary Chairman on 1st February 2017. His first job was to meet the Management Committee at a retreat on 27th February 2017 to listen to our strategic plans and objectives. He had himself some suggestions, in particular, he was interested in SIAS pursuing an independent funding model and wanted to help us achieving that. However, sadly he has been suddenly taken away.
I was personally interacting with him when he was the Chief Executive of SGX on issues and initiatives impacting on the retail investors. He was genuinely concerned about the small investors. He liked what we were doing at SIAS and always told me that SIAS was important to him and to our capital markets. He was responsible for increasing SGX’s support, to some extend, fund our investor education programmes and activities.
One thing about him was his sense of humour which he brought to every meeting, always was cheerful and smiling. Even when correcting us, he was gentle and careful in how he was putting his views across. It was difficult to say no to him.
His achievements at SGX, to bring SGX as a best-in-class exchange in the region, whilst his initiatives were good for the investors, not all of it were completely welcomed by all stakeholders; especially the introduction of continuous all day trading. Mr Böcker was also a strong advocate for advancing corporate governance, championing issues like gender diversity as Chairman of the Diversity Action Committee.
We will miss him.
David Gerald
Founder, President & CEO
Securities Investors Association (Singapore)
