Singapore Exchange (SGX)

[CityFarmer]

SINGAPORE - From Monday, the names of the companies listed on investors' Central Depository (CDP) statements will be the same as the names identified on their trading counters.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) said that this is part of efforts to improve the securities market for investors and listed companies.

Standardising the names of listed companies on CDP statements means investors can easily recognise the shares they have bought. This update only applies to a company's ordinary shares.

Other information the SGX is looking at improving include the names of other types of securities such as bonds, warrants and exchange-traded funds, as well as the stock code of companies and the legal names of companies.

I am wondering on the changes of security names in POEMS, may be due to the same policy...

[kayhian]

SINGAPORE - From Monday, the names of the companies listed on investors' Central Depository (CDP) statements will be the same as the names identified on their trading counters.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) said that this is part of efforts to improve the securities market for investors and listed companies.

Standardising the names of listed companies on CDP statements means investors can easily recognise the shares they have bought. This update only applies to a company's ordinary shares.

Other information the SGX is looking at improving include the names of other types of securities such as bonds, warrants and exchange-traded funds, as well as the stock code of companies and the legal names of companies.

I am wondering on the changes of security names in POEMS, may be due to the same policy...

yupe. same here in Utrade.

looks weird. needs time to get used to.

[greengiraffe]

PUBLISHED APRIL 18, 2014
SGX, Taiwan mull cross-trading of shares
The two exchanges may shortlist a pool of high-quality stocks to start with
BYLYNETTE KHOO
lynkhoo@sph.com.sg @LynetteKhooBT

TAIWANLEE180414
"Currently, investors can already trade shares on the other bourse by routing their orders in a round-about way through two different brokerages on both sides," said Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) chairman Lee Sush-Der - PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
'Encouraging foreign listings is a continual process, while cross-trading of shares is something that can be done in the short run. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we would have come up with a viable system.'
- Lee Sush-Der, chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange
Singapore
THE Singapore and Taiwan stock exchanges are in talks on potential cross-trading of selected shares listed on both bourses, the Taiwan bourse's chairman revealed yesterday. For a start, each side may shortlist a pool of high-quality stocks for the cross-trading.
"Currently, investors can already trade shares on the other bourse by routing their orders in a round-about way through two different brokerages on both sides," said Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) chairman Lee Sush-Der. "But if there is one single window to trade each others' shares, one layer of brokerage fees is removed and the overall costs will be lower."
Mr Lee, who was also Taiwan's finance minister from 2008 to 2012, led a delegation to Singapore this week to promote Taiwan's capital market to brokerages, funds, insurance firms and South-east Asian companies.
It was at his meeting with Singapore Exchange (SGX) chief executive Magnus Bocker on Wednesday when the idea of a cross-border trading connectivity between Singapore and Taiwan was mooted. SGX and TWSE have formed a working group to discuss the specific mechanisms, such as trading, clearing and settlement systems, computer systems and marketing.
When approached by The Business Times, SGX said it will continue to strengthen its partnership with its counterparts in Taiwan "and be open to any opportunity and collaboration that may benefit our shareholders, customers and the Singapore marketplace".
SGX has a similar tie-up with the London Stock Exchange that allows SGX members to trade FTSE 100 securities on the Singapore bourse's GlobalQuote Board, and LSE members to trade 36 securities of Singapore's leading indices on the London exchange's newly created International Board.
In its efforts to internationalise faster, TWSE is also wooing Singapore companies to list in Taiwan by way of direct listings or secondary listings via Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDRs). A few Singapore companies are in the pre-IPO consultation stage with TWSE, Mr Lee said.
"But encouraging foreign listings is a continual process, while cross-trading of shares is something that can be done in the short run," he added. "Hopefully, by the end of the year, we would have come up with a viable system."
TWSE started to internationalise since 2008 with the TDR regime but its efforts have met with limited success. As of last year, less than 7.4 per cent of all issuers on TWSE were foreign companies. Of about 27 TDR listings by foreign companies, eight are from Singapore companies.
Growth in foreign participation has also slowed in recent years. The market value on TWSE held by foreign investors was 16.3 per cent of the overall market in 2000. It rose significantly to 34 per cent in 2006 but has hovered around that level since. The trading value of foreign investors accounted for 24.6 per cent of the total market last year.
Mr Lee conceded that a smaller institutional investor base is a bugbear for TWSE, as retail investors still account for 60 per cent of its securities turnover.
Taiwan's Asian Pay Television Trust listed in Singapore last year as a business trust, while private equity fund MBK Partners was said to be considering a business trust listing for China Network Systems, Taiwan's largest cable television operator, here.
There is no framework in Taiwan yet for business trusts listings; there are less than eight real estate investment trusts (Reits) listed in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, restrictions on direct listings for mainland Chinese companies are still in place. Mainland companies can only undertake secondary listings in Taiwan via TDRs and use the proceeds for operations in mainland China.
More deregulation is in TWSE's favour, but political dynamics and the timing of deregulation still depend on Taiwanese regulators, Mr Lee said.
Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges are planning a direct link that will allow investors in Hong Kong and Shanghai to cross-trade shares. When implemented, Hong Kong investors can buy and sell shares on Shanghai Stock Exchange for the first time outside of China's qualifying schemes.

[CityFarmer]

The company Q3 result announced today.

 Revenue: $166 million, down 13% from a year earlier
 Operating profit: $88 million, down 23%
 Net profit: $76 million, down 22%
 Earnings per share: 7.1 cents, down 22%
 Interim dividend per share: 4.0 cents

The nine-month result base on comment from Magnus Bocker, CEO of the company.

"We recorded third-quarter net profit of $76 million on revenue of $166 million following a challenging quarter for our securities business. For the nine-month period, revenue was unchanged at $514 million while net profit was 2% lower at $243 million."

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/20140423...eID=292662

[gzbkel]

According to the CFO:
"The penny stock crash was partially responsible for a 45 per cent drop in retail investor participation in the first three months, said Chief Executive Officer Magnus Bocker, adding that there is a general weakness in markets in the region as well, though the slowdown in Singapore is a little bit more significant."

I wonder how much of the drop in trading is attributed to the penny stock crash, and how much is attributed to the "general weakness in markets in the region".

If most of the drop is due to the penny stock crash, which is one-time event, this could be a buying opportunity if there is a price drop.
Is the "general weakness in markets in the region" referring to outflow of money from the emerging markets due to the tapering and pending increase rates rise? If so, I guess this situation will persist for the time being.

I am considering buying some SGX shares because I am attracted by SGX's lack of debt and the currently monopoly in Singapore. My other investments are all increase-rate sensitive REITs, so hoping to diversify with some zero gearing stocks.

If we take yesterday's closing price, the P/E is about 22.5, which is slightly slower than the average for the last few years. PE may improve if price drops.
Looking at past trend, the share price tend to drop somewhat after the ex-dividend date.


Published: April 24, 4:13 AM
SGX Q3 earnings hit by limp share trading
Today Online
http://www.todayonline.com/business/sgx-...re-trading
---
SINGAPORE — It was another challenging quarter for Singapore’s securities market in the first three months of the year as investors continued to remain wary months after a penny stock crash last October rattled confidence, and amid general weakness in regional markets.

Trading volume plunged 47 per cent to 169 billion shares between January and March, compared with 318 billion shares a year ago, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said at its third-quarter earnings briefing yesterday. The total value of shares traded during the quarter was also down 35 per cent year-on-year to S$67 billion, said SGX.

Chief Financial Officer Chng Lay Chew said: “Trading activity in our securities market have been muted, further depressed by the designated stock event in October 2013.”

Mr Chng was referring to the incident that saw a combined S$8 billion in stock market value wiped out over three days after the share prices of Blumont, Asiasons and LionGold fell sharply in as-yet unexplained circumstances. An investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is still ongoing.

The penny stock crash was partially responsible for a 45 per cent drop in retail investor participation in the first three months, said Chief Executive Officer Magnus Bocker, adding that there is a general weakness in markets in the region as well, though the slowdown in Singapore is a little bit more significant.

“The most important I think is lower volatility. If you look at a year ago, we had (factors such as) Abenomics to drive volatility; there’s a lot of up and down so volume came through that. On top of that, there’s talk about assets going out of emerging markets into the US, Europe,” he said.

As a result of the weaker securities market, SGX saw its revenue for the quarter decline 13 per cent to S$166 million, while net profit fell 22 per cent to S$76 million. However, SGX is confident that activity in the securities market will recover over time, as steps have been taken to improve the quality and liquidity.

SGX implemented circuit breakers in February and will lower clearing fees from June. In addition, it has issued a joint consultation paper with the MAS that includes proposals for a minimum share price and collateral requirements for securities trading.

“What’s also encouraging is we’re seeing more retail investors in Singapore … that’s why we’re confident that the volume will come back,” Mr Bocker said.

However, Mr Roger Tan, CEO of Voyage Research, told TODAY that SGX may have to do more to restore liquidity in the Singapore market as there may be bigger factors behind the weak sentiment here.

“I think the (penny stock) incident simply added salt to the already-wounded confidence in the Singapore stock market. The value trade of the FTSE All-Share Index has been falling since 2008, but became worse in 2013 after the incident,” he said.

[greengiraffe]

No fish prawn also can... as long as listing comes and there are are buyers... sgx won't care so much on the quality of listings...

PUBLISHED APRIL 26, 2014
S'pore eyes more listings by shipping, offshore companies: SGX chief
BYMALMINDERJIT SINGH
msingh@sph.com.sg @MalminderjitBT

Shipping is a strong sector and SGX offers it a strong market. - PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Singapore
SINGAPORE is keen on getting more shipping and offshore companies to list here, said Singapore Exchange (SGX) chief executive Magnus Bocker yesterday.
Noting that shipping was a strong sector and that the SGX offered it a strong market, he added: "It is not only about the Exchange, it is about the infrastructure that we have here. We have knowledgeable banks, analysts, research, law firms and, on top of it, we have a lot of companies in Singapore that deal with this (sector)."
This support infrastructure is thus an ecosystem which spurs companies to set up, and eventually list here, he told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of trading in PACC Offshore Services Holdings (POSH) on the SGX yesterday.
The Business Times reported this month that the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore and the SGX were working together to attract more shipping and offshore companies to list here.
Nearly US$20 billion has been raised by the global shipping and offshore segments since January 2013, with the US and Norway accounting for as much as 90 per cent of the equity capital market activity in that time.
Mr Bocker acknowledged that Singapore still trailed behind those two countries in reeling in companies to list here, but pointed out that the Republic was not that far behind qualitatively speaking:
"There is no doubt that there are a certain number of companies going to the US, and there is a history in the way you can structure a listing in the US, sometimes with a bit more special features.
"Oslo is an interesting market but most of the IPOs there - if you look at the Oslo market - are smaller in amount terms."
He said the nearly S$400 million listing of POSH yesterday was an indication of the kind of IPO size that SGX is able to attract. "If you look at IPOs in other parts of the world, they may be more in number of IPOs, but the money raised is not that large."
The listing of POSH yesterday took the number of maritime and offshore services companies listed here to 56; their total market capitalisation is nearly US$50 billion.
Industry professionals say, however, that if Singapore wants a bigger slice of the growing global shipping and offshore pie, still more needs to be done to attract companies in these sectors to list here.
Rahul Khemka, the director of strategic advisory at DNB Markets, told The Business Times that although the SGX is witnessing fewer maritime related issuances than the US and Norwegian markets, it is uniquely positioned to leverage the region's rising maritime activity and the growing liquidity among Asian investors.
He noted, however, that most of the demand in the recent shipping capital market has come from investors in the US and Europe, and that Asian investors have been less active in the current shipping cycle.
"The SGX has the potential to emerge as a preferred destination for maritime capital markets activity through continued dialogue with potential issuers, regulators and industry bodies. Increasing partnerships with maritime-focused investment banks will be an important channel to access leading industry players and active financial investors in the sector," he said.
Asked to elaborate on the specific steps the SGX is taking to bring in more shipping-related companies, Mr Bocker declined comment.

[CityFarmer]

More effort on derivative market...

(vested)

SGX to launch 9 more commodity derivatives contracts

Singapore Exchange is expanding its bulk commodity offerings with nine more derivative contracts to be launched over the next two months.

SGX aims to introduce options-on-futures for iron ore and freight, and two coking coal derivatives, by the second half of the year.

The exchange also plans to launch two thermal coal derivatives around the same period (based on the API 4 and API 5 coal indices), to capture seaborne coal prices exported from South Africa and Australia respectively.

In a statement, SGX said the new contracts are designed to reflect major physical commodity flows to cater to the needs of producers and consumers in the Asian bulk commodities market.

Speaking at the Singapore Iron Ore Forum on Wednesday, SGX CEO Magnus Bocker said that the ability to clear iron ore, coking coal and steel products on a single platform in the Asian time zone will improve margin savings and operational efficiencies.
http://www.theedgesingapore.com/the-dail...racts.html#

[greengiraffe]

Angmo boss memory very short... he odd to be as he is not responsible for all the wipeout in S chips. However, many investors will remain very wary. Anyway, unless you are find new suckers, his strategies is going to find the going tough...

SGX boss rules out exchange merger
Max Mason
466 words
9 May 2014
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English
Copyright 2014. Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited.

Singapore Exchange chief executive Magnus Böcker says he is unlikely to make a second run at a merger with the ASX, and will instead focus on China after Singapore became just the second place able to have Chinese companies list directly on its exchange.

An $8.4 billion merger between the SGX and Australian Securities Exchange was rejected by Julia ­Gillard's Labor government in April 2011. The deal was designed to help the ASX gain a foothold in Asia faster and let the SGX tap into Australia's wealth of commodities knowledge.

But Mr Böcker insisted the SGX had moved on in recent years and a future merger was unlikely despite the fact Australia was now under a new government.

"A lot of the reasons why we wanted to do it . . . some of those reasons are not there any more, and I think that is the driving force, it's not whether it's a government there or not," he said.

"We are always looking at everything but it would only be driven primarily by what is good for our customers. When I look at it, mergers and acquisitions might not be my primary target right now."

But that hasn't stopped the two exchanges from working with each other, in areas such as OTC (Over the Counter) clearing, and Mr Böcker said he expects the ASX and SGX will, in time, be working together on other opportunities.

"I think we see each other far less as competitors and far more as collaborative partners. If you look into the next 10 years, the important thing for me is not to compete with any of the other exchanges, but to grow the market."

Singapore had the opportunity to become the financial powerhouse of Asia. Aside from Hong Kong, Singapore is the only country allowed to have Chinese companies list on its exchange, and it stands to benefit not only from the growth of IPOs in China, but increased interest from Western investors looking for a more well-regulated and transparent market.

Around 40 per cent of companies listed in Singapore are non-­local entities and the SGX allows trade in a number of currencies.

The SGX is optimistic that the first Chinese company will list directly on the Singapore Exchange later in 2014.

More stock exchanges would be welcome in Singapore to improve its credentials as a financial hub .

"Singapore has a unique opportunity to be the financial centre of Asia in the same way London is for Europe," he said.

"I think that that will not happen just by having one exchange in ­Singapore, we need to have more exchanges."

The reporter travelled to the Singapore Iron Ore Forum courtesy of the Singapore Exchange


Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited

Document AFNR000020140508ea590001c

[CityFarmer]

Angmo boss memory very short... he odd to be as he is not responsible for all the wipeout in S chips. However, many investors will remain very wary. Anyway, unless you are find new suckers, his strategies is going to find the going tough...

Singapore Exchange chief executive Magnus Böcker says he is unlikely to make a second run at a merger with the ASX, and will instead focus on China after Singapore became just the second place able to have Chinese companies list directly on its exchange.

This is a market trend. Mr. Böcker is doing a right thing for SGX. What else he should do are to improve the vetting process and regulation, among other things, IMO.

I am cautiously optimistic as vested shareholder, as well as a retail investor of SGX.

[Greenrookie]

Angmo boss memory very short... he odd to be as he is not responsible for all the wipeout in S chips. However, many investors will remain very wary. Anyway, unless you are find new suckers, his strategies is going to find the going tough...

Singapore Exchange chief executive Magnus Böcker says he is unlikely to make a second run at a merger with the ASX, and will instead focus on China after Singapore became just the second place able to have Chinese companies list directly on its exchange.

This is a market trend. Mr. Böcker is doing a right thing for SGX. What else he should do are to improve the vetting process and regulation, among other things, IMO.

I am cautiously optimistic as vested shareholder, as well as a retail investor of SGX.

If no extradition treaty, all safeguards are paper exercises. when there is extradition treaty, enforcement is another issue. If we want CEOs of S-chips pledge some of their assets in Singapore in safeguard, do you think it will work? SGX is not the only exchange you know...

So, bringing in quality S-chips, in terms of size and track records, would be important, but would SGX care? Even if they care, quality s-chips have the option of listing in Hong Kong, which gave better valuation, or the rest of the world. What does singapore has?

Improve retail participation. I dun know how to do it, but Singapore has one of the largest wealth management business, but why is retail participation so miserable? Can you imagine if you have half the singaporean talking about equities as you have talking about property.

Raise profile of SMEs of Singapore. I also don't know how to do it.

Most people I met, when They know I invest in shares, either think I very smart (I think so too, ahahahah ) or that I am a gambler (I also agree LOL ), but hey, almost anyone talk about getting a private property. Talk about leverage, who is the gambler?

I am interested in SGX though, on my watchlist.