THE Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) equities market review group proposes to introduce tax incentives to spur more listings and investments in Singapore’s equities market, in its first set of measures announced on Thursday (Feb 13).
These measures include tax incentives to attract enterprises and fund managers to list in Singapore. They also aim to encourage the launch and growth of funds with substantial investment in local equities.
The review group’s focus is to strengthen the competitiveness of the equities market through a set of proposals to catalyse investor interest and boost the supply of quality listings, and to streamline the regulatory process for initial public offerings.
The announcement said that a fuller update on this first set of measures will be provided on Feb 21. It will also continue to work on the next set of measures to foster longer-term development and sustainable growth of Singapore’s equities market, which will be presented in the second half of 2025.
The review group, which was set up last August to recommend actions that will aid the development of equities in Singapore, is chaired by Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat, who is also a board member of MAS. The group also includes private-sector stakeholders and public-sector representatives.
It is supported by two workstreams. The enterprise and markets workstream focuses on ways to encourage listings, increase investor participation, improve trading liquidity, and facilitate fair valuations for listed equities.
Meanwhile, the regulatory workstream looks 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.
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