Changing the game for SME and startup financing

1. What do you think was the most remarkable thing that happened this week?

The own-goals of the Trump administration continue to provide grist for the journalistic mill. The latest snafus include the sudden resignation this week of President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and the withdrawal of Mr Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary, the equally controversial Andrew Puzder. Elsewhere, the Greek government is, for the umpteenth time, going head to head with its eurozone creditors to obtain another slice of bailout money. Then, on Monday, there was the shocking and mysterious murder by poison at Kuala Lumpur airport of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. All of the above are worthy of further comment and speculation.

But the big local news came from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Hot on the heels of the report of the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) released last week, the MAS rolled out a flurry of initiatives to boost financing options for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to make it easier for venture capital (VC) funds to set up and operate in Singapore by, among other measures, removing minimum capital requirements.