SGX initiatives aimed at helping investors, including retail investors

I REFER to S Kumar's letter "Does SGX care about small investors?" (BT, Dec 9).

SGX has introduced a number of initiatives to help investors, including retail investors. These include the 100-share board lots, lower clearing fees and dynamic circuit-breakers. The Minimum Trading Price (MTP) requirement too is aimed at helping investors by reducing excessive speculation. All these will help improve the Singapore stock market in the long run.

Companies have a number of options to consider in response to the MTP rule; a share consolidation is just one of these but it is important to remember that consolidation alone does not alter the weak fundamentals of a company. When a company consolidates its shares, its board must consider shareholder interest and post-consolidation liquidity in deciding the consolidation ratio. If SGX is of the view a proposed ratio could adversely impact liquidity, we will reject the company's application.