Singapore

Market Infrastructure

Singapore Bankers ‘Flooded’ With Inquiries from Hong Kong – Reports

By Editors | 16/07/2019

Following Hong Kong’s extradition bill protests, wealth managers and private banks have seen increased queries from clients looking to set up channels to move assets to Singapore.

Market Infrastructure

SGX RegCo Proposes Price Limits for Auction Mechanism

By Editors | 16/07/2019

SGX already uses dynamic circuit breakers during continuous trading, but there is currently nothing similar used during the opening, mid-day and closing auctions.

Market Infrastructure

MAS Raises Conduct Concerns in Financial Advisory Sector

By Editors | 15/07/2019

The MAS has commenced a review of the disciplinary frameworks at financial advisory firms, with a view to eventually sharing best practices and developing further guidance.

Market Infrastructure

SGX Launches New Trading Engine from Nasdaq

By Editors | 15/07/2019

The upgrade standardises and unifies SGX’s operations, messaging and data infrastructure, enabling greater flexibility, speed and cost-efficiency when launching new products and services.

Fintech / Regtech

Singapore Marks Launch of First Private Exchange with First Listing

By Editors | 13/07/2019

Backed by SGX and licensed by MAS, 1exchange takes private companies’ shares and puts them into an SPV to back digital tokens that can then be listed and traded by investors.

AML / KYC

OCBC to Speed Up Police Investigations with Automated Data Retrieval

By Editors | 11/07/2019

OCBC Bank and the Singapore Police Force are collaborating on a new project to reduce the amount of time it takes for investigators to access banking information to just 1-2 days.

Securities / Derivatives

SGX RegCo Announces Changes to Voluntary Delisting Rules

By Editors | 11/07/2019

The new rules require exit offers in conjunction with voluntary delistings to be both “reasonable” and “fair”, and exclude the offeror and concert parties from the shareholder vote.

Enforcement

Singapore Convicts Three Front-Runners Under Insider Trading Laws

By Editors | 11/07/2019

Two First State equity dealers told a UOB Kay Hian remisier about their firm’s intended orders to front-run trades in 100 counters, leading to over S$8mn in insider trading profits over 8 years.

Crypto / Digital Assets

Singapore Proposes GST Exemption for Digital Token Payments

By Editors | 09/07/2019

Transactions involving digital tokens or cryptocurrencies that function or are intended to function as a medium of exchange will be exempt from GST.