SGX launches bulletin that for 1st time will shed light on private enforcement actions

The Singapore Exchange building in the Central Business District. PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI FOR THE STRAITS TIMES

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has launched a listing compliance bulletin to increase the transparency of its deliberations on disciplinary actions on listed companies.

The bulletin will, for the first time, shed light on non-public regulatory actions SGX has taken in response to listing rule breaches, the market operator and regulator said it a press release on Monday (Dec 21).

In addition to public disciplinary actions, SGX takes private enforcement actions against listed issuers, their executive officers, directors and market professionals.

The bulletin contains case studies of non-public regulatory decisions highlighting common pitfalls, areas of concern and circumstances which would lead to a breach of the listing rules - without naming the companies or individuals involved.

"We hope these case studies will provide insight to market participants on the key considerations SGX deliberated on when deciding on regulatory actions," SGX said.

Some examples of steps taken by affected issuers to improve their internal controls are also mentioned. "We hope issuers will find these case studies a useful guide for the strengthening of their internal processes and controls so as to avoid similar occurrences," said SGX.

The bulletin also has listing compliance toolkit aimed at making regulatory compliance more structured, efficient and simpler to understand. Contained in the toolkit are template forms for corporate actions. These are focused on addressing areas of the highest regulatory concerns with regards to corporate actions and to facilitate approval of submissions, said SGX. The forms are constantly updated based on the feedback and concerns of stakeholders so issuers and market professionals are urged to regularly refer to the toolkit, SGX added.

SGX said the listing compliance bulletin will be enhanced and expanded from time to time to cover other areas of regulatory compliance and to improve communication between the exchange and its stakeholders.

Separately, SGX has also published sponsor compliance guidelines, which seek to provide clarity and guidance to sponsors and registered professionals of their obligations under the Catalist rules.

SGX said it welcomes feedback and suggestions on all this content at media@sgx.com.

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