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SCMP Reporter

FORMER top regulator Mr Robert Owen may join the board of tycoon Mr Lee Ming-tee's Allied Group.

  Mr Owen has been offered a position as a non-executive director of Allied.

  He is said to be considering the offer very seriously but wants to be satisfied that there will be no conflict of interest with his former position.

  The appointment would raise eyebrows in the financial community as several companies connected to Mr Lee's Allied Group are under investigation by the Financial Secretary. The probe was instigated by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) where Mr Owen was chairman until April last year.

  Allied is expected to announce at its annual meeting tomorrow that it has completed a restructuring to streamline the group.

  Despite facing a long drawn out investigation by a government-appointed inspector, Allied Group will push forward on a series of projects, according to Mr Brian O'Connor, the group's chief executive.

  ''Since the investigation was initiated, we have spent a lot of our management time assisting it. Now the investigation is almost over, we can turn our attention to moving forward again,'' he said.

  ''We don't want to sell the three [remaining listed] companies. We want to make an understandable structure,'' he said.

  Mr O'Connor joined Allied Group in September, a month after Financial Secretary Mr Hamish Macleod appointed Coopers and Lybrand partner Mr Nicholas Allen to direct the inquiry which now embraces 22 companies related to Allied.

  Mr Tam Wing-pong, deputy secretary of the government's financial services branch, said yesterday that the investigation was close to completion.

  The group has received 75 per cent of the investigation reports from the government financial inspector and is expected to have the remainder in the coming weeks.

  Mr O'Connor said: ''We do not expect the outcome of the investigation to affect the company's operations.''   It is understood that the first offer for Mr Owen to join the firm was made several months ago. Mr Owen has known Mr O'Connor from the time when the Allied chief executive headed UK firm Crestacare.

  Aware that taking up a position with Allied could spark controversy, Mr Owen has held talks with the present SFC boss Mr Robert Nottle. The SFC yesterday declined to comment.

  Out of its eight subsidiaries, the Allied Group has disposed of four since the start of the inquiry: Asia Securities, Tung Wing Steel, Guardforce, and Paramount Printing. It has also sold down its shareholding in Santai from 70 per cent to seven per cent.

  That leaves a slimmed-down group with Allied Group at the top of the tree, over the listed Allied Industries and Allied Properties, and the private Allied Aquatic.

  As part of the management overhaul, Mr O'Connor has already brought in three independent non-executive directors, Mr Lau Wah-sum, Sir Gordon Macwhinnie and Mr Wong Po-yan.

  Under the streamlining plan, the group has raised $1.611 billion by selling off its assets and now has cash to consider acquisitions.

  One of the group's priorities is to seek attractive projects in China. Turnover generated from ventures in China will expand to 20 per cent of the group's total turnover whereas at the moment it is minimal.

  Allied Property will expand to generate 30 per cent of its turnover in China, according to Mr O'Connor.

  Previously, the major source of funds for Allied Group was its subsidiaries. But now it will develop itself as a service company for financial consultancy and trading.

  Mr O'Connor added: ''It's fair to say that a number of mainland companies have expressed interest in becoming shareholders. We obviously welcome that.''   He said that nothing had been finalised yet.



Lee Ming-tee's firm woos ex-SFC boss