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QUESTION NO 2428
NOTICE PAPER 1545 OF 2022
FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
Date: For Parliament Sitting on 29 November 2022
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong, MP, Jurong GRC
Question:
To ask the Prime Minister in view of Singapore listings having declined more than half from last year compared to the region, what are the upcoming development plans to ensure a dynamic Singapore Initial Public Offering market to keep pace with the investment momentum of the region.
Answer by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS:
1. Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) volumes globally have fallen this year. The number of IPOs globally has fallen by 44%, and proceeds by 57%, in the first 9 months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021
2. MAS has shared in past sittings the initiatives that SGX and government agencies have implemented to increase the attractiveness of our equities market for local and international investors. Key initiatives include a $1.5 billion fund put together by the Government and Temasek to invest in the public listings of promising high-growth enterprises on SGX; a growth IPO fund by EDBi to support late-stage private enterprises to grow and prepare for an eventual public listing in Singapore; and an enhanced MAS grant scheme to defray the costs of a public listing on SGX, and to develop Singapore’s equity research ecosystem.
3. SGX has introduced new listing options to cater to new economy companies, such as the Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPAC”) framework. Details can be found in PQ 1981
4. These recent initiatives are significant. We should give them time to bear fruit and re-evaluate the situation before considering yet more new measures.
- [1] Ernst & Young, 28 September 2022, press release on EY Global IPO Trends Q3 2022 .
