The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is launching a new SGD 75 million (USD 55 million) Grant for Equity Market Singapore (GEMS) in support of Singapore’s vision to serve as Asia’s center for capital raising and enterprise financing. GEMS will be a three-year initiative to help enterprises seeking to raise capital through Singapore’s equity market.
The Grant will have three components:
Listing Grant to facilitate enterprises seeking a listing on Singapore Exchange (SGX) by defraying part of their Initial Public Offering (IPO) costs;
Research Talent Development Grant to strengthen Singapore’s research coverage of enterprises by grooming equity research talent; and
Research Initiatives Grant to support crowd-sourced initiatives to propel the development of Singapore’s equity research ecosystem.
Three categories of firms will be eligible for the listing grant. Enterprises in new technology sector which includes financial technologies, consumer digital technologies, on-demand services as well as gaming services & peripherals, with minimum market capitalization of SGD 300 million, can receive co-funding of 70% of eligible listing expenses, with grant capped at SGD 1 million. Enterprises from high growth sectors with minimum market capitalization of SGD 300 million will be eligible for co-funding of 20% of eligible listing expenses, with grant capped at SGD 500,000. The high growth sectors, identified in the Committee for Future Economy (CFE) report, are digital cluster, advanced manufacturing, hub services, logistics, urban solutions & infrastructure and healthcare. Other enterprises from all sectors, with no minimum market capitalization requirement, can receive co-funding 20% of eligible listing expenses, with grant capped at SGD 200,000.
The Research Talent Development Grant will co-fund 70% of the salaries for fresh graduates hired as equity research analysts and 50% of the salaries for re-employed experienced equity research analysts. This grant is for locals only. It aims to groom a pipeline of equity research analysts and retain experienced research talent to initiate research coverage primarily of listed mid and small-cap enterprises.
The Research Initiatives Grant can cover initiatives such as publication of industry or sector primers, innovative ways to distribute research and disseminate enterprise information to investors.
(Sources: Monetary Authority of Singapore; Business Times)
