MAS equities market review group to complete report by August

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) group undertaking a review of the equities market is targeting to complete its report by August this year.

It may provide updates and recommendations in phases along the way, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong on Wednesday (Jan 8), in a written reply to a parliamentary question.

Gan, who is also minister for Trade and Industry, was responding to Workers’ Party MP Louis Chua, who asked about the projected timeline for the review group to provide its phased recommendations to the government, the projected review timeline, and the expected implementation date for these recommendations.

The panel was set up in August last year to recommend measures to aid in the development of equities in Singapore.

It is chaired by Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat, and includes private-sector stakeholders and public-sector representatives.

The review group is supported by two workstreams. The enterprise and markets workstream is focusing on ways to encourage listings, increase investor participation, improve trading liquidity and facilitate fair valuations for listed equities.

The regulatory workstream is looking into streamlining Singapore’s regulatory framework, improving the listing process and enhancing the effectiveness of the current disclosure-based regime. It also aims to strengthen corporate governance standards, investor access and recourse.

At the recent 25th anniversary ceremony of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) Group, Gan disclosed that the review group was looking into ways to make optimum use of seed capital to attract more commercial capital.

He also noted that the group was working to position Singapore’s equities market as an attractive listing venue for high-quality, mid-cap growth companies typically overlooked by larger exchanges.