IN the course of trying to sell the United Chinese Bank, interesting twists occurred recently when the trustees of the foundation that owned the bank resigned because of internal disagreements and a new trustee was appointed. The year-long saga started when the controlling shareholder of the bank, Yee Shiu-kee, died during a sales talk with potential buyer Bank of East Asia. Because the 17-branch United Chinese Bank was owned by the S K Yee Medical Foundation and the trustees of this charitable foundation could not agree on how to handle the foundation's sole asset, the discussion of the sale was suspended. It is understood that an objection was raised by one trustee on the sale of the bank. Even the number of trustees was in question. The dispute among the trustees was taken to court to clarify the power of the trustees in relation to the asset of the trust. After many exchanges, the parties agreed to settle things amicably among themselves. They agreed to the resignation of all the trustees and the appointment of the director of Legal Aid Department, Lady Cheung, as the new trustee. The decision was handed down as a court order last Thursday. 'Under the Trustee Ordinance, there is a provision that when there are disputes among the trustees concerning the running of the trust, the court can appoint an official solicitor to take over the running of the trust,' said David Carse, deputy chief executive (banking) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. 'It is not that the Government takes on the running of the trust. Lady Cheung was appointed by the court as the official representative to carry out the administration of the trust,' he said. Regarding the future of the bank, the new trustee will base her decision on the likely benefits rendered to the fund.
