The theme of collaboration is a hot one for the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Each year, the exchange organises the SGX Orb Award, which recognises “excellence in financial news and content”. For the fifth and most recent edition, the local bourse shone the light on the importance of collaborating to compete, as it was the topic of the special category that differs each year.
This theme follows that of the recent 51st St Gallen Symposium that was held in St Gallen, Switzerland, earlier in May. The event, which saw SGX as a partner, examined the difficulties that the world faces today amid the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and inflation and supply chain issues, as well as how collaboration between parties can lead to solutions for the greater good of the industry and market.
SGX Group’s managing director and head of marketing and communications, Teo Ai June, says that collaboration has always been the driving force at the group to build a “trusted ecosystem” alongside partners, clients and colleagues globally.
World financial markets are rapidly evolving as new and emerging technology brings both disruption and opportunity across multiple asset classes. Market participants are increasingly finding value in working together — often with the new entrants — to build scale, expand their global reach and raise their service offering.
“Mutual success matters in an increasingly complex world, and Singapore can play an important role to facilitate this as an international financial hub. We look forward to hearing from content producers as they share their stories on this theme,” says Teo.
With that, The Edge Singapore spoke to Charlotte Wong, vice president of IPO admissions for the Singapore Exchange Regulation (RegCo), to learn more about how SGX RegCo collaborates with the several parties that it works with.
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Wong, Teo and I attended the St Gallen Symposium together as leaders of today to not just understand from other parties from other parts of the world on ways to collaborate, despite conflicting interests, diverse values and distinct histories, but to also learn from each other how we can work together towards creating a more successful investing market for Singapore.
SGX RegCo has talked a lot about collaboration when it comes to raising governance standards. Why the emphasis on collaboration?
Collaborative regulation is critical for regulatory relevance, coherence and impact at multiple levels. Today’s complex interconnected environment presents both challenges and opportunities. Hence, by working together with the market community, we can do a lot more. Inclusion is one of our primary focuses in regulatory decision-making, so the expectations, expertise and ideas of market stakeholders and players are considered; there is a role for everyone.
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From the St Gallen symposium in May, I also learnt that representative participation and multi-stakeholder decision-making create a new level of transparency and result in higher levels of trust; it is not about the regulator in isolation. And in the process of leveraging collaboration effectively, it is fundamental to strike a reasonable balance between independence and interdependence.
Who should SGX RegCo collaborate with and how?
We value coming together with parties to work out what needs to be done and how best to do it, such as market professionals, academia, industry associations, cross-sector regulators and members of the public. For example, SGX RegCo has collaborated with stakeholder associations, lawyers, auditors and valuers to expand investor education efforts for new investment products, to produce best practices guides and, in some instances, consulting the public for input in our enhancement of Listing Rules.
What results have emerged from these collaborative efforts?
The outcomes resulting from a more inclusive approach have proven to be meaningful and well considered with fewer blind spots. Apart from greater awareness of expectations in market professionals’ conduct and dealings with both listed companies and listing applicants, there is now also a more cooperative effort when it comes to raising compliance and governance standards.
By collaborating with industry professionals and associations, sub-quality work or behaviour is surfaced to these groups for further action. All these serve to align and enhance the quality and standards of the entire market community.
What is the future for collaboration as far as regulation and governance are concerned?
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Regulation-making is about continually improving, refining, and adjusting, and we think collaboration is the way to go for more efficient, inclusive and effective solutions.
We definitely see room for further cross-border collaboration in the sharing of knowledge, expertise and best-case practices, perhaps with overseas industry associations and professionals. We are already doing this with overseas exchanges and regulators.
There is opportunity to collaborate, even with the media and its audience, as long as we share the same end goal of a healthy, thriving marketplace.
ESG has become a hot topic globally. What role can collaboration play to improve how listed companies do on the ESG front?
There is a lot of interest in ESG these days, with pressure coming from the general population, investors, and regulators. Perhaps people are now realising that the threats to the environment are real, climate change is real.
That said, tackling ESG issues goes beyond appeasing investors and creating a good public relations story. If companies can work together, by this I mean both listed and unlisted companies, towards being more genuinely ethical and sustainable in their thinking and decisions, long-term competitive success and positive outcomes for the environment and society can be achieved.
SGX RegCo has recently joined hands with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) to set up the Sustainability Reporting Advisory Committee to draw up a road map. We can expect to see reporting expanded to beyond what has been achieved by listed companies through this collaborative effort.
What are some of SGX RegCo’s expectations of the media?
In a phrase — mutual accountability. We want to work with the media to help inform investors and other market participants of new rules and expectations as well as to hear from the public on proposed policy changes. Reporters can also help explain the context behind developments, make known objective views on situations and correct market misperceptions or inaccurate representations if they arise.
Tell us about how you joined RegCo. What sort of goals do you look forward to achieving in your role?
I started off as a capital markets lawyer, working on a broad spectrum of securities offering, regulatory compliance and corporate governance transactions. I particularly enjoyed the real sense of satisfaction in navigating the ins and outs of regulations, and witnessing the benefits that a transformative event like an IPO can bring to a business.
Having observed how closely connected capital markets practice and financial regulations is, I developed an interest to get directly involved in developments that shape the market; a career in regulations which provides the link between the capital markets sector and the laws that govern it. This naturally led me to take up the opportunity to join SGX RegCo, an uniquely positioned self-regulatory organisation, hoping to meaningfully contribute from a broader perspective as a front-line regulator and operator of the Singapore capital markets.
Fast-forward seven years later, at IPO Admissions of SGX RegCo, I continue to enjoy the stimulation in keeping attuned to global developments and policy shifts, and tackling challenges as gatekeeper in a fast evolving market — it is the very fact that every turn is different that keeps me going, the varied and meaningful nature of capital markets work.
As the saying goes: “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” This sums up my regulatory journey towards the overarching goal of advancing public interests; to identify the best, innovative and least burdensome tools to achieve regulatory ends while making sure we remain a part of the larger conversation and accomplishments are grounded.
Photo: Charlotte Wong/ SGX RegCo
