MOU signed to help Chengdu firms raise capital on SGX

SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX) and Chengdu Municipal Finance Affairs Office (Chengdu FAO) on Monday announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work on facilitating capital-raising by companies from Chengdu on SGX.

Under the terms of the MOU, Chengdu FAO will encourage and help Chengdu-based firms to leverage SGX as an international fund-raising platform.

In turn, SGX will help Chengdu companies gain familiarity of international capital-market practices, products for fund raising, and listing regulations and requirements.

Liang Qizhou, deputy director-general of Chengdu FAO, said the MOU will help more Chengdu enterprises list on SGX via initial public offerings (IPOs), bonds, and real estate investment trusts (Reits).

Lawrence Wong, executive vice-president and head of listings at SGX, said the Singapore bourse can help Chengdu enterprises connect with its pool of international investors.

The MOU builds on SGX's existing partnerships with government agencies from China's provinces and municipalities to help Chinese companies list in Singapore.

SGX has signed similar MOUs with Chongqing, Fujian, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Tianjin and Zhejiang.

IPOs are drying up on SGX, with the equity capital raised falling 76 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2015, The Business Times earlier reported.