Independent listing committee will add expertise

[SINGAPORE] Industry observers welcomed the Singapore Exchange's proposal of an independent listings advisory committee for SGX, saying that it will help the exchange to make sense of unusual features in potential listings that it has grappled with in the past, such as dual class shares.

"The reference to an industry panel would allow the SGX to tap expertise and, in this way, help the listing process when a difficult issue arises," said UBS head of corporate client solutions Choo Oi Yee.

In a wide-ranging consultation paper announced last Friday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and SGX made proposals for independent listing, disciplinary and appeal committees, in response to concerns over the exchange's dual roles as both a commercial entity and a listing regulator.