A well-functioning securities market is a shared responsibility

I REFER to NS Nallakaruppan's letter, "Urgent action needed to restore confidence to Singapore market" (BT, Oct 3, 2015).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has indeed been working with Singapore Exchange (SGX) and various stakeholders to strengthen Singapore's securities market. Some of these measures were mentioned by MAS deputy managing director Ong Chong Tee in an opinion-page article published on June 26, 2015.

A key set of initiatives centres around retail investors having access to a broader range of simple, low-cost capital-market products to invest in. Blue-chip equities are now more affordable with the reduction in lot size from 1,000 to 100 shares. Investors also have access to a wider range of less complex exchange-traded funds which they can trade like shares. Measures will be put in place to make it easier for…