A year of firsts for the Singapore stock market

WHEN I was asked to contribute a commentary to mark the year end, it was suggested to me that the topic should perhaps be along the lines of “A year of wins for shareholders”. As I looked through my notes, speeches, the Regulator’s columns and other content that the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) has published, however, it was clear to me that 2023 might be better described as a year of firsts.

Board renewal and diversity come to the fore

Consider the introduction of a hard stop of nine years on the tenure of a director deemed independent. This was the first policy announcement in 2023 and perhaps one of the more significant in recent years.

Earlier, in 2022, we had begun requiring companies to disclose a board diversity policy, as well as plans and targets to achieve it.