Nasdaq, SGX in pact to smooth dual listings

Bloomberg

Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX) and Nasdaq Inc. will extend their partnership to help companies access capital in both jurisdictions.
The increased cooperation will include a streamlined framework for issuers seeking a secondary listing on Singapore Exchange, SGX said in a statement. The two exchanges are deepening their partnership at a time when the tensions between the US and China have escalated, the mainland has cemented its control over Hong Kong and as the competition between Asia’s two financial hubs has increased.
The framework allows documents required for the SGX listing to be based on information contained in the US listing and subsequent filing documents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and/or Nasdaq, together with additional disclosure in compliance with Singapore’s rules. Shares of SGX fell as much as 1.7% on Wednesday morning, the most in three weeks.
“A dual-listing tie up with Nasdaq will significantly bring up SGX’s profile” as an important destination for technology listings in Asia, said Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX in Singapore. “This is significant for SGX, which has suffered from delistings and lack of technology firm IPOs in the past years.”
Cooperation will further enable monitoring and assessment of issuers, and the enforcement of regulatory actions, including referrals of cases to the authorities of the respective jurisdictions.
SGX saw its stock price tumble in May after MSCI Inc. announced it would move licensing for derivatives products on some gauges to Hong Kong from Singapore. It hasn’t stayed still — the bourse said last month it would launch single-stock futures on some companies listed in the city-state, and announced it will acquire the remaining 80% stake in BidFX, a foreign exchange trading platform.