Singapore Airlines appoints Hsieh Tsun-yan, Gautam Banerjee as independent non-executive directors

Mr Hsieh will take over starting 1 September while Mr Banerjee's appointment will be effective 1 January 2013.

In a release, Singapore Airlines announced the appointment of Mr Hsieh Tsun-yan and Mr Gautam Banerjee to its Board as independent non-executive directors.

Mr Hsieh, 59, will be appointed to the Board with effect from 1 September 2012. Mr Banerjee, 57, will be appointed to the Board with effect from 1 January 2013. Both will join the Board Audit Committee and Board Compensation & Industrial Relations Committee.

A Canadian citizen and Singapore Permanent Resident, Mr Hsieh has since 2008 been Chairman and Lead Counselor of leadership services firm LinHart Group. Prior to that he was with management consulting firm McKinsey & Company for 28 years, holding posts in Singapore, Toronto and Copenhagen.

Mr Hsieh is an Independent Director of Japan’s Sony Corporation, India’s Bharti Airtel Limited and Canada’s Manulife Financial Corporation. He is also a Management Advisory Board Member of the National University of Singapore’s Business School, Provost Chair Professor (Practice Track) of Management at the Business School and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Singapore International Foundation.

Mr Hsieh has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta.

A Singapore citizen, Mr Banerjee has been with professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore for 30 years, including as Executive Chairman since 2004 and its Chief Operating Officer for the Asia Pacific region since 2005. He will be retiring from PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore on 31 December 2012.Mr Banerjee was a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore between 2007 and 2009. He is Vice Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation and is on the Boards of Singapore’s Economic Development Board and Yale-NUS College.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Financial Analysis from the University of Warwick and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales).