Focus on corporate governance as Singapore shifts to more disclosure-based regulatory regime

MARKET watchers said market integrity, investor protections and minority shareholders could be affected by the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) equities market review group’s recommendation to shift towards a more disclosure-based regime, among other regulatory measures revealed on Feb 21.

David Smith, senior investment director at asset manager abrdn, said that the success of this approach depends on the active participation of the investment community, including both buy and sell-side investors, as well as other key stakeholders involved in bringing companies to the market.

In this context, he views the industry-led Singapore Stewardship Principles, introduced in 2016, as a valuable reference. They encourage responsible investment and promote good stewardship practices on a voluntary basis.