Remisiers write to Tharman to resolve issues plaguing market

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

OVER 1,000 remisiers and investors have come together to appeal to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to help them resolve a wide range of issues plaguing the industry.

In a Jan 15 letter to Mr Tharman, they expressed unhappiness with the state and direction of the local stock market and urged immediate changes. Titled "Urgent Measures Needed to Rebuild Confidence in the Singapore Stock Market", the letter was written by investment specialist at a local broking house S Nallakaruppan and carried 1,225 signatures, mostly from retail trading representatives (TRs).

The issues raised and remedies proposed include separating Singapore Exchange's regulatory and commercial roles, raising the public portion of an IPO, restoring investors' trust in the local bourse, reviewing onerous rules for "high-risk" products, and listing of government-linked companies such as PSA and Changi Airports International to add breadth and depth to the market.

Pointing to the dismal market conditions, the letter noted that annual trading volume has fallen 26 per cent over the past five years from S$387 billion during the exchange's FY2010 to S$286 billion in FY2014. It attributed the slump to a loss of confidence among the investing public after Singapore-listed China stocks crashed in 2008-2010, and after the penny stock rout of 2013.

To rebuild confidence, some of the key recommendations contained in the letter were:

• issuing at least 25 per cent of shares in an IPO to the public; this would avoid the farce of initial public offerings turning into initial private offerings;
• better rules for short selling disclosure;
• rethinking regulations for sophisticated instruments;
• setting up truly independent committees when consulting the public on proposed policy changes;
• raising the quality bar for CPF Trustee stocks and lifting the limit for investment in equities from 35 to 80 per cent of the CPF Ordinary Account;
• transferring long-suspended stocks with governance issues to a high-risk third board with cash upfront trading;
• providing the market with regular updates on investigations such as the current probe into the October 2013 crash of LionGold, Blumont and Asiasons;
• separating SGX's regulatory and commercial roles.

"In the haste to rebuild the Singapore bourse after the delisting of more than a hundred Malaysian Clob shares," the letter said, "listings from China were admitted with limited consideration given to important issues such as corporate governance and enforcement across borders."

Also mentioned was 2008's Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy that led the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to classify perceived higher risk products as Specified Investment Products and Excluded Investment Products, and to introduce stringent rules that require TRs and clients to sit for exams before trading these instruments.

"Singapore could be the only country in the world to have such rules," said the letter. "This has created a lot of confusion, resulting in many in the investing public staying out altogether. All these classifications should be removed and a simple one or two-page Risk Disclosure statement should be signed by the investing public before they are allowed to buy sophisticated products . . . we can educate the investing public about the various risks but we cannot regulate risk."

When contacted, Mr Nallakaruppan told BT that the stock market was in its worst state since he joined the industry 20 years ago, and it was the dire situation than prompted him to act. Many remisiers contacted by BT were familiar with the contents of the letter as many had signed it.

"For these many people to take the drastic step of signing a letter to the minister, it has to mean something is very wrong," said a dealer with a bank-based brokerage. "It's important to note that this is not a finger-pointing exercise, but a call for everyone to work together to bring about real improvements."

Jimmy Ho, president of the Singapore Society of Remisiers, pointed out that the number of signatures obtained was significant and that it represents almost half the society's members. "With the bread and butter of several thousand Singaporeans (remisiers, dealers and backroom support staff) and their families at stake, it is only fair that the situation . . . be brought to the government's attention."


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