Retail investors in Singapore face problems exercising their rights
About a quarter of the respondents said they met challenges in accessing company financial reports and disclosures. — The Straits Times
SINGAPORE: More than a third of retail investors, or 37%, experienced difficulties in exercising their rights, according to a new survey out on June 25.
The survey, which was commissioned in 2024 by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, included the responses of 197 people in a bid to track the progress of investors' rights in Singapore and see what more needs to be done.
Sias is the main investor-led organisation dedicated to investor education and the advocacy of retail investors' rights. It engages companies and regulators to improve corporate governance and transparency.
The survey was also conducted with support from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Of the respondents who said they faced difficulties in exercising their rights, 41% felt their voices were not heard enough when companies made decisions.
Another 24% said they met challenges in accessing company financial reports and disclosures. About 22% also reported encountering difficulties when voting at shareholder meetings because of unclear procedures and a lack of information.
Lastly, 13% said they experienced delays in receiving dividends and other things that shareholders are entitled to.
SIT associate professor of accounting Kevin Ow Yong said: 'From an accounting and finance perspective, it is imperative that there are adequate safeguards to protect investors so as to improve and maintain investor confidence towards Singapore Exchange-listed companies.'
The report observed that there is room for further reforms to plug gaps in investor protection under the existing framework.
The opportunity for reform has also cropped up, with the ongoing review by the Equities Market Review Group, which was set up in 2024 to boost Singapore's equities market.
'While it is important for regulation to be right-sized in order to improve and increase the quality of listings in Singapore, this should not be at the expense of investor protection, which is important to support both retail and institutional investment in Singapore's equities market,' the report said.
Among the things investors wanted were having better mechanisms for investor redress and dispute resolution, and ensuring fair and equal access to information. — The Straits Times/ANN
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Retail investors in Singapore face problems exercising their rights
About a quarter of the respondents said they met challenges in accessing company financial reports and disclosures. — The Straits Times SINGAPORE: More than a third of retail investors, or 37%, experienced difficulties in exercising their rights, according to a new survey out on June 25. The survey, which was commissioned in 2024 by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, included the responses of 197 people in a bid to track the progress of investors' rights in Singapore and see what more needs to be done. Sias is the main investor-led organisation dedicated to investor education and the advocacy of retail investors' rights. It engages companies and regulators to improve corporate governance and transparency. The survey was also conducted with support from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Of the respondents who said they faced difficulties in exercising their rights, 41% felt their voices were not heard enough when companies made decisions. Another 24% said they met challenges in accessing company financial reports and disclosures. About 22% also reported encountering difficulties when voting at shareholder meetings because of unclear procedures and a lack of information. Lastly, 13% said they experienced delays in receiving dividends and other things that shareholders are entitled to. SIT associate professor of accounting Kevin Ow Yong said: 'From an accounting and finance perspective, it is imperative that there are adequate safeguards to protect investors so as to improve and maintain investor confidence towards Singapore Exchange-listed companies.' The report observed that there is room for further reforms to plug gaps in investor protection under the existing framework. The opportunity for reform has also cropped up, with the ongoing review by the Equities Market Review Group, which was set up in 2024 to boost Singapore's equities market. 'While it is important for regulation to be right-sized in order to improve and increase the quality of listings in Singapore, this should not be at the expense of investor protection, which is important to support both retail and institutional investment in Singapore's equities market,' the report said. Among the things investors wanted were having better mechanisms for investor redress and dispute resolution, and ensuring fair and equal access to information. — The Straits Times/ANN
The Star
11 hours ago
- The Star
Hope in fraught times: Trump-Xi bond could shift ties for the better, say US experts
BEIJING: US President Donald Trump's free hand domestically and open admiration for Chinese President Xi Jinping could make him the wild card capable of shifting the relationship between the world's two largest powers from rivalry to cooperation, American scholars have said. Speaking at a session developed in collaboration with The Straits Times at a World Economic Forum event in Tianjin on Thursday (June 26), Harvard professor Graham Allison pointed out that Trump is not a China hawk. 'If you look at the campaign last year, there were a thousand people running for office in the country in which 80 per cent of the people have a negative view of China,' he said, referring to the US general election in 2024. 'Only one person had positive things to say about China. This was Donald Trump.' Prof Allison noted that Trump had said to Xi that when China and the United States work together, they can solve most of the world's problems. He said he believed that Trump is determined to be a 'great deal maker' and a 'great peacemaker'. 'If he is going to succeed in that mission, the opportunity for Trump and Xi to surprise us on the upside, I think, is enough to be hopeful,' said the national security analyst who has served under former US presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. Prof Allison's optimism stands out in the current climate. Since Trump began his second term in January, the US-China rivalry has intensified – most notably with the US' imposition of unprecedentedly high tariffs on Chinese goods – leading many observers to take a pessimistic view of the world's most consequential relationship. His optimism is also striking, given that he is famous for popularising the 'Thucydides Trap' – a concept that draws upon historical pattern to suggest that conflict becomes likely when an established power feels threatened by a rising power. (Clockwise from left) ST Foreign Editor Li Xueying moderating a session with Professor Graham Allison, Professor Jin Keyu, Professor Monica Toft and Professor Happymon Jacob at a World Economic Forum event in Tianjin on June 26. - Photo: World Economic Forum Another American scholar at the same session shared his optimism. Professor Monica Toft of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy said Trump has significant leeway to take a softer approach on China, given that most Americans are not interested in foreign policy and that Congress and the courts are unlikely to challenge him. 'If President Trump decided he could align US interests more closely with China – without giving away the store – he has both the prerogative and the opportunity to do that,' she said. Prof Toft noted that global politics today is shaped by two strongmen – Trump and Xi – who share a personal rapport. 'They talk to one another, they respect one another, they admire one another,' she said. 'It could be an extraordinary period for humanity if they can find a way to collaborate and coordinate on certain issues.' Speaking at the same session, Professor Jin Keyu from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology also saw bright spots in an otherwise gloomy picture of the US-China rivalry. 'I do not agree with the view that they are in a new Cold War,' she said. She said while China and the US may be politically opposite and economically competitive, there is a need for them to cooperate to provide global public goods. 'There is space to collaborate, whether it's on the risk of artificial intelligence, climate, data transparency, and so forth,' she said. At the session titled 'Geopolitics: An Unfolding Story', moderated by ST Foreign Editor Li Xueying, the panel also discussed the erosion of the 'nuclear taboo', a normative belief that the use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, even in situations where it might be strategically advantageous. This concept was brought into sharp focus by recent conflicts. In June, the US and Israel attacked Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons development programme. In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, which found itself less able to defend itself because it had given up its nuclear capabilities decades ago. Professor Happymon Jacob, who teaches nuclear disarmament at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, pointed out that while the taboo against the use of nuclear weapons remains, the taboo against the possession of nuclear weapons appears to be collapsing. 'Ukrainians would say we made a mistake in giving up our nuclear weapons,' he said at the same panel. 'The Russians will tell you that we have nuclear weapons, thousands of them. There is no way we are going to be defeated in this war.' He noted how South Korea, faced with the threat of nuclear-armed North Korea, is also thinking about developing nuclear weapons. - The Straits Times/ANN
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
New Zealand's Xero to acquire Melio Payments
The cash-and-stock deal for Melio includes as much as US$500mil in additional performance and other payments over three years. — Bloomberg WELLINGTON: Xero Ltd, a cloud-based accounting software firm, has agreed to buy Melio Payments Inc for US$2.5bil as the New Zealand company pushes deeper into the US market with its biggest-ever acquisition. The cash-and-stock deal for Melio includes as much as US$500mil in additional performance and other payments over three years, according to a statement yesterday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. The combined business is expected to accelerate US revenue growth, possibly more than doubling Xero's group revenue by its 2028 financial year, it said. 'Probably the most critical to a build versus buy decision, you look at the competitive nature of the market and you work backwards for your ambitions and say look am I going to get there fast enough?' Xero chief executive officer (CEO) Sukhinder Singh Cassidy said in a phone interview. 'Once the platforms are integrated we can go after acquiring customers faster.' Melio co-founder and CEO Matan Bar will be responsible for the combined US business. Before creating Melio, he led PayPal's consumer peer-to-peer payments group. 'This is not a founder who's at his first rodeo,' Singh Cassidy said. 'He's already built one company to be a large global player, and stayed to realise the vision.' Melio's valuation hit US$4bil in 2021 after it raised US$250mil in an investment round co-led by Thrive Capital and General Catalyst. Last year, though, it was valued at US$2bil in a US$150mil funding round led by Fiserv Inc, according to a statement. 'Having worked closely with the Xero team, we're excited by our shared purpose to scale in the United States and combine Xero's accounting capabilities with Melio's accounts payable and receivable solutions,' Bar said. With offices in New York, Tel Aviv and Denver, Melio provides payments software to small businesses in the food, beverage and construction industries, according to its website. Xero provides accounting software for invoicing, payroll and other functions, primarily to small businesses. In addition to a home office in Wellington, New Zealand, Xero has a head office in Melbourne, Australia, plus other locations in both countries as well as offices in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Singapore and South Africa, according to its website. The company's Australia-listed shares have gained 15% this year, giving it a market value of about A$30bil (US$19bil). Xero is New Zealand's biggest company by that measure, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Singh Cassidy said she's very confident that Bar 'understands the complexity of running a business that's going to increase in scale inside a large organisation, while having the maniacal focus and passion and pace of a founder'. E&P Capital analyst Paul Mason said Xero's plan to purchase Melio could boost earnings from payments over time if it is successful at cross-selling the US-based company's service to its user base. — Bloomberg
