SGX eases rules to welcome more tech IPO

(Mar 13): Singapore Exchange (SGX) is stepping up efforts to bring technology companies to its market.

The bourse last year proposed allowing dual-class shares, a structure favoured by tech founders because it lets them keep control after going public. Now SGX wants to loosen some of the recommended restrictions it planned to impose on dual-class listings, such as a minimum market cap, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations who asked not to be named.

Making dual-class shares easier to adopt is an attempt to make Singapore more competitive with exchanges in the US, which have in recent years listed Chinese tech companies that now have a combined market value of about US$785 billion ($1.03 trillion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China is also joining the race to draw more tech initial public offerings, while Hong Kong is pitching that it too will allow dual-class shares.

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