A vibrant, liquid stock market vital for S'pore: SGX chairman

'Evident' that more work is needed to bolster this pillar of the financial ecosystem, he says

- Kang Wan Chern

A vibrant and liquid stock market is vital to securing Singapore's continued success as a global financial centre, and it is "evident" that this business needs more work, the chairman of the local bourse said.

Beyond generating profits for the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the purpose of the local stock market is to serve as a trusted and efficient marketplace for growing enterprises to readily raise capital and advance further.

Should it fail to enable venture capital and private equity to exit their investments and recycle the capital deployed, the supply of such capital will eventually dry up and threaten the start-up ecosystem that Singapore has built and nurtured over the past decades.

That was the gist of SGX chairman Koh Boon Hwee's letter to shareholders in the exchange's latest annual report for the year ended June 30.

It was the first time in 14 years that the chairman had issued a separate letter from the chief executive in SGX's annual report.