SINGAPORE: Companies may soon be able to concurrently list on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Nasdaq, enabling companies to access capital across Asia and North America, announced the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday (Nov 19).
While the proposal for a dual listing bridge is subject to the completion of relevant regulatory processes, MAS will work with SGX to consult on the regulatory framework for a set of prospectus disclosure requirements comparable to that in the US, it said.
This means companies that are interested in an initial public offering (IPO) can use a single set of offering documents to list on both exchanges concurrently, cutting down on regulatory friction and cost, MAS said.
The cross-border listing framework will allow companies with a market capitalisation of S$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) and above to access global capital, investors and liquidity, said SGX and Nasdaq in a joint press release on Wednesday.
With the bridge in place, companies will be able to simultaneously list on SGX and the US exchange, and dual-listed shares registered in the US can be settled on SGX and vice versa.
This is one of the measures announced by the Equities Market Review Group, which was set up to give recommendations on how to strengthen the development of Singapore's stock market.
MAS set up the review group in 2024 after SGX had its worst year for listings in 2023. The review group is led by Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat, who was Second Minister for Finance at the time. He is also the deputy chairman of MAS.
At a press conference on Wednesday concluding the review, Mr Chee said: "We are still very keen to attract companies to list on the SGX main block, just as Nasdaq will still be very keen to attract companies to list on Nasdaq.
"But we both see this as an additional option that some companies could find attractive, could find useful, and so this will help us to be able to enlarge the pie for both Nasdaq and SGX."
For example, a company may be considered large by Singapore or Asian standards, but may end up "becoming smaller fish in a much bigger pond" if they were to list on Nasdaq on its own, he added.
With the draw of both US and Singapore liquidity pools, the new board will support efforts to attract more Asian issuers into the Singapore ecosystem, said Mr Chee.
The new board is envisaged to go live around mid-2026, he added.
The announcements come amid growing interest in new SGX listings from corporates while MAS rolled out the review group's previous recommendations. The third quarter of 2025 saw more IPOs than in the whole of 2024.
The Straits Times Index closed last week at 4,546.07 after hitting a new all-time high of 4,575.91, delivering a 25.8 per cent total return for the year to Nov 14.
MAS also announced a "value unlock" programme to help listed companies "strengthen investor engagement and sharpen their focus on shareholder value creation".
This includes S$30 million (US$23 million) allocated to two grants to build competencies in corporate strategy, capital optimisation and investor relations, MAS said.
MAS added that it had appointed a second batch of six more asset managers to the S$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme – one of the several measures proposed by the review group to boost Singapore's stock market.
From the remaining sum, S$2.85 billion has been allocated to Amova Asset Management, AR Capital, BlackRock, Eastspring Investments (Singapore), Lion Global Investors and Manulife Investment Management (Singapore).
MAS appointed the first three asset managers in July to manage S$1.1 billion under the programme, which involves putting money with fund managers focused on investing in Singapore stocks.
At the time, more than 100 global, regional and local firms had expressed interest in the programme.
A total of S$3.95 billion has been allocated to nine asset managers. The central bank will continue to review the remaining submissions and the next phase of appointments is expected in the second quarter of 2026.
The review group also announced other trading and market structure enhancements:
To oversee the implementation of these measures, MAS will establish an Equity Market Implementation Committee, co-chaired by its managing director Chia Der Jiun and SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye.
Adding that there has been "some encouraging development" since the review began in August 2024, Mr Chee said Singapore's equities market has performed well overall.
"Building a stronger equities market, we know it cannot be done by any single organisation. There's no silver bullet to battle this set of challenges that we used to face," he added.
The government wants to continue collaborating with industry partners going forward, to continue finding new growth areas for Singapore's financial services industry, especially in a more turbulent environment, said the minister.
"But we must, while we're doing this, also remind ourselves that we've got to be prepared to take some risks, calculated risks," said Mr Chee.
"We want to enhance the competitiveness of our ecosystem, we want to increase our chances of being able to implement transformative change. We may not always succeed."
Mr David Gerald, president and CEO of the Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS) lauded the "value unlock" initiatives, adding that listed companies are typically "very shy" about communicating with retail investors.
He said the grants would help firms better train their officers to market their business growth journeys as well as their valuations and plans. This would encourage investors to look at how the company's stock is performing, he added.
"Singapore companies are not having enough liquidity. If you can spur the local investors to do more for you, and if more companies come out and do these things and not hide behind annual reports ... they need to communicate more regularly."
CEO of the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), Mr Terence Quek, said the moves by MAS will function as "a shot in the arm" for the local equities market and spark more interest in local-listed firms.
The latest announcements show that the review group took a deep dive into the issue while listening to feedback from key stakeholders, including directors of listed entities, he added.
"Boards and directors will also need to step up. SID will continue to play a key role in supporting boards with the capabilities, professionalism and governance standards they need to operate in this new landscape," said Mr Quek.
To support the "value unlock" programme, SID will launch a series of programmes to help directors develop competencies in the area of corporate strategy, capital optimisation and investor relations and stakeholder engagement, he added.
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While the proposal for a dual listing bridge is subject to the completion of relevant regulatory processes, MAS will work with SGX to consult on the regulatory framework for a set of prospectus disclosure requirements comparable to that in the US, it said.
This means companies that are interested in an initial public offering (IPO) can use a single set of offering documents to list on both exchanges concurrently, cutting down on regulatory friction and cost, MAS said.
The cross-border listing framework will allow companies with a market capitalisation of S$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) and above to access global capital, investors and liquidity, said SGX and Nasdaq in a joint press release on Wednesday.
With the bridge in place, companies will be able to simultaneously list on SGX and the US exchange, and dual-listed shares registered in the US can be settled on SGX and vice versa.
This is one of the measures announced by the Equities Market Review Group, which was set up to give recommendations on how to strengthen the development of Singapore's stock market.
MAS set up the review group in 2024 after SGX had its worst year for listings in 2023. The review group is led by Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat, who was Second Minister for Finance at the time. He is also the deputy chairman of MAS.
At a press conference on Wednesday concluding the review, Mr Chee said: "We are still very keen to attract companies to list on the SGX main block, just as Nasdaq will still be very keen to attract companies to list on Nasdaq.
"But we both see this as an additional option that some companies could find attractive, could find useful, and so this will help us to be able to enlarge the pie for both Nasdaq and SGX."
For example, a company may be considered large by Singapore or Asian standards, but may end up "becoming smaller fish in a much bigger pond" if they were to list on Nasdaq on its own, he added.
With the draw of both US and Singapore liquidity pools, the new board will support efforts to attract more Asian issuers into the Singapore ecosystem, said Mr Chee.
The new board is envisaged to go live around mid-2026, he added.
The announcements come amid growing interest in new SGX listings from corporates while MAS rolled out the review group's previous recommendations. The third quarter of 2025 saw more IPOs than in the whole of 2024.
The Straits Times Index closed last week at 4,546.07 after hitting a new all-time high of 4,575.91, delivering a 25.8 per cent total return for the year to Nov 14.
MAS also announced a "value unlock" programme to help listed companies "strengthen investor engagement and sharpen their focus on shareholder value creation".
This includes S$30 million (US$23 million) allocated to two grants to build competencies in corporate strategy, capital optimisation and investor relations, MAS said.
MAS added that it had appointed a second batch of six more asset managers to the S$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme – one of the several measures proposed by the review group to boost Singapore's stock market.
From the remaining sum, S$2.85 billion has been allocated to Amova Asset Management, AR Capital, BlackRock, Eastspring Investments (Singapore), Lion Global Investors and Manulife Investment Management (Singapore).
MAS appointed the first three asset managers in July to manage S$1.1 billion under the programme, which involves putting money with fund managers focused on investing in Singapore stocks.
At the time, more than 100 global, regional and local firms had expressed interest in the programme.
A total of S$3.95 billion has been allocated to nine asset managers. The central bank will continue to review the remaining submissions and the next phase of appointments is expected in the second quarter of 2026.
The review group also announced other trading and market structure enhancements:
- MAS and SGX will introduce incentives and grants to strengthen market makers' capabilities, focusing on newly listed and next-tier small- and mid-cap stocks outside the STI, with more details to come in the first quarter of next year.
- SGX will facilitate investor adoption of broker custody accounts, enabling more investment services like portfolio management, fractional trading and robo-investing for SGX securities.
- SGX plans to reduce the board lot size for securities above S$10 from 100 to 10 units, lowering minimum investment requirements to boost trading activity.
To oversee the implementation of these measures, MAS will establish an Equity Market Implementation Committee, co-chaired by its managing director Chia Der Jiun and SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye.
Adding that there has been "some encouraging development" since the review began in August 2024, Mr Chee said Singapore's equities market has performed well overall.
"Building a stronger equities market, we know it cannot be done by any single organisation. There's no silver bullet to battle this set of challenges that we used to face," he added.
The government wants to continue collaborating with industry partners going forward, to continue finding new growth areas for Singapore's financial services industry, especially in a more turbulent environment, said the minister.
"But we must, while we're doing this, also remind ourselves that we've got to be prepared to take some risks, calculated risks," said Mr Chee.
"We want to enhance the competitiveness of our ecosystem, we want to increase our chances of being able to implement transformative change. We may not always succeed."
Mr David Gerald, president and CEO of the Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS) lauded the "value unlock" initiatives, adding that listed companies are typically "very shy" about communicating with retail investors.
He said the grants would help firms better train their officers to market their business growth journeys as well as their valuations and plans. This would encourage investors to look at how the company's stock is performing, he added.
"Singapore companies are not having enough liquidity. If you can spur the local investors to do more for you, and if more companies come out and do these things and not hide behind annual reports ... they need to communicate more regularly."
CEO of the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), Mr Terence Quek, said the moves by MAS will function as "a shot in the arm" for the local equities market and spark more interest in local-listed firms.
The latest announcements show that the review group took a deep dive into the issue while listening to feedback from key stakeholders, including directors of listed entities, he added.
"Boards and directors will also need to step up. SID will continue to play a key role in supporting boards with the capabilities, professionalism and governance standards they need to operate in this new landscape," said Mr Quek.
To support the "value unlock" programme, SID will launch a series of programmes to help directors develop competencies in the area of corporate strategy, capital optimisation and investor relations and stakeholder engagement, he added.
Continue reading...