Criticism of regulators over Noble is misplaced

FRONTLINE stockmarket regulator SGX (Singapore Exchange) and its supervisor MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) were criticised by research firm Iceberg Research last month for not acting over the past 30 months during which the shares of commodities firm Noble Group crashed by more than 90 per cent following publication of Iceberg's first attack on Noble's financials in early 2015.

The main point of contention is that Noble's alleged overly aggressive accounting should have been flagged earlier by SGX and MAS, with the implied suggestion that had this been done, the market's interests would have been better served

Could regulators have done more? Critics will say yes, but it certainly isn't clear that this is the case.