Stop the blame, work for mutual gain

SOME BT readers and investors may be wondering how the dealing community's view of the local stock market could be so diametrically opposed to that held by the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

On the one hand, 1,225 trading representatives (TRs) last month took the unprecedented step of voicing their concerns in a letter to the finance minister ("Remisiers write to Tharman to resolve issues plaguing market", BT, Feb 5). The basic contention was that retail public confidence in the Singapore equity market is poor and is unlikely to improve without drastic changes.

The letter also listed recommendations for moving forward, such as better short-selling disclosure rules, a higher-quality bar for CPF Trustee stocks, less onerous rules for trading sophisticated products, faster resolution of investigations, and regular updates when there are official probes into possible market rigging.