Singapore aims to become Asia’s enterprise financing hub

Singapore (VNA) - A new 75 million SGD (about 58 million USD) grant will be launched in February 2019 to help companies raise funds on Singapore’s stock market and develop the city-state into an enterprise financing hub.

There are three components to the three-year initiative, known as the Grant for Equity Market Singapore. The first part is a listing grant that will defray up to 70 percent of the cost of an initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore, up to one million SGD. Companies will be eligible for different tiers of the listing grant based on the nature of their market sector and their size.

The second component will be a research talent development grant that will co-fund the salaries of stock research analysts, to help encourage such talent and enhance research coverage in Singapore, particularly of listed mid- and small-cap companies. The grant will fund up to 70 percent of the salary of a fresh graduate hire and up to 50 percent of that of a re-employed, experienced hire.

The last one is a research initiative grant, to fund crowd-sourced initiatives that aim to improve Singapore’s equity research ecosystem. Examples of such initiatives could include innovative ways to distribute research and disseminate enterprise information to investors.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Assistant Managing Director Ng Yao Loong said that Singapore has been working to enhance its private and public markets so that domestic and international growth enterprises are able to access different types of capital best suited to their needs.

The new grant will help strengthen Singapore’s position as the go-to venue in Asia for enterprises seeking growth financing.–VNA