Alvin Tan on building an attractive and vibrant equities market

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recognises the value of an attractive equities market as part of Singapore’s overall financial services ecosystem, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry and MAS Board Member Alvin Tan. Replying to an MP’s question in Parliament on Wednesday (Oct 4), he said this is why the Government and Singapore Exchange (SGX) have put in place a range of initiatives to better position Singapore’s equities market. He said the Government will continue to monitor the situation closely, as well as review and update its measures where necessary to adapt to the shifts in global capital markets. Mr Tan pointed out that the challenge of sustaining a vibrant and attractive cash equities market is not unique to Singapore. Globally, the number of initial public offerings and proceeds raised have been declining since 2021. This was driven by the trend of companies staying private for longer and more recently, against the backdrop of a challenging global macro environment and interest rate environment. Mr Tan also highlighted the initiatives by MAS to provide a "more enabling" environment for companies to consider listing on SGX.