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Singapore adds $1.2b to boost equities market
Singapore will allocate an additional S$1.5 billion (US$1.2 billion) to the Financial Sector Development Fund to support the local equities market, according to Finance Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament on February 12.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has already allocated nearly S$4 billion (US$3.2 billion) to nine asset managers under the Equity Market Development Programme.
The government is also implementing recommendations from MAS’s market review, including streamlining listing rules and establishing a dual-listing bridge with Nasdaq.
These measures aim to increase market depth and provide more growth pathways for companies in Singapore.
The Economic Development Board (EDB) will intensify efforts to attract high-growth companies, including promising enterprises from abroad, to develop a pipeline of local and international firms.
Eligible companies will benefit from these initiatives starting in the second quarter of 2026, with the goal of creating more job opportunities and supporting career growth for Singaporeans.
🔗 Source: The Business Times
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Singapore’s market boost goes beyond cash
- Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Nasdaq plan a dual-listing link by mid-2026, with a “Global Listing Board” for companies above S$2 billion in market capitalization 1.
- The setup would make fundraising easier, since firms could file one set of offering documents that satisfies both exchanges 1.
- The plan fits a broader push to draw companies and money, with family offices (private firms that manage wealth for ultra-high-net-worth families) rising from 400 in 2020 to 1,400 in 2023 2.
Beyond the stock market, the plan also takes aim at Asia’s venture capital scene
- A direct link to U.S. capital markets could make Singapore a global gateway for Asian firms, which Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman called the “first of its kind” 1.
- More family offices may supply “patient capital” (long-term funding that doesn’t demand quick returns) to back startups, which could later use the link for a global exit 2.
- The package strengthens Singapore’s pitch as a full-lifecycle hub for technology firms, from incubation to an initial public offering (IPO). SGX still faces a hurdle on liquidity (how easily shares can be bought and sold without moving the price), which trails Nasdaq 1.
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