SGX chairman Koh Boon Hwee’s remarks come after a review group was set up on Aug 2 by MAS to strengthen the local equities market development.
Should it fail to enable venture capital and private equity to exit their investments and recycle the capital deployed, the supply of such capital will eventually dry up and threaten the start-up ecosystem that Singapore has built and nurtured over the past decades. “Some may argue that the stock market is only one aspect of our financial ecosystem, but it is more like a pillar. And we should recognise that if this one pillar were to falter, the whole is put at risk,” Mr Koh wrote.Mr Koh highlighted the importance of having a liquid stock market that is supported by a strong supply of companies wanting to list, as well as corresponding demand from investors, including domestic institutional investors.
He noted that previous attempts at addressing the issues of the stock market have been incremental and focused on the supply side, and that more emphasis should be given to the demand side of the marketplace. While SGX will always have zero tolerance for fraud and uphold Singapore’s hallmarks of trust and good governance, investors must be actively owning their investment decisions and outcomes.a review group