Inside the Singapore exchange’s (SGX) revival: How the MAS’ Equity Market Development Plan and a landmark dual listing are boosting confidence in the country’s index.
After a challenging period, across 2024 and into 2025 primarily due to a sustained wave of delistings and a low volume of new initial public offerings (IPOs), the Singapore Exchange (SGX) shows strong turnaround signs. A coordinated effort from regulators and the exchange, coupled with a landmark US-tech dual listing and record financial results, boosts confidence and injects much-needed liquidity into the market. While still smaller than its regional peer, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), Singapore is actively repositioning itself as an attractive hub for capital markets.
Let’s take a close look at what is driving this momentum in the local exchange:
MAS-led policy and capital injection
The cornerstone of the turnaround is the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)-led Equity Market Development Programme (EDQP). This initiative, first announced earlier in 2025, is more than just a policy tweak; it’s an SGD 5 billion capital injection aimed at deepening market participation and encouraging active trading.
What has the Singapore central bank done so far this year?
- Direct Capital Flow: The MAS has begun allocating an initial SGD 1.1 billion of the SGD 5 billion under the EMDP to fund managers like Avanda Investment Management, Fullerton Fund Management, and JP Morgan Asset Management. This is an explicit, coordinated attempt to support Singapore-focused strategies and increase investment flows into local equities.
- Structural Reforms: Building on the recommendations of the Equities Market Review Group, the MAS and SGX are adopting a more disclosure-based listing regime. This shift simplifies listing requirements, reduces uncertainty for potential issuers, and includes tax incentives for new listings by corporate and fund managers.
- Boosting the Ecosystem: The MAS is also expanding the Grant for Equity Market Singapore (GEMS) scheme, committing SGD50 million to strengthen the local equity research ecosystem, particularly for under-researched small- and mid-cap companies. This multi-pronged approach signals a serious long-term commitment to enhancing the market's stability and liquidity, vital for attracting both issuers and buy-side participants.
A landmark listing sets a new precedent
Confidence in the SGX ecosystem was significantly boosted in September 2025 by a groundbreaking transaction from the US tech sector. Data security firm AvePoint, headquartered in New Jersey, completed a SGD 260 million SEC-registered offering of common stock shares with a dual listing on the SGX-ST Mainboard and the Nasdaq.
This was a first-of-its-kind transaction because it was an SEC-registered offering priced in Singapore dollars, listing and settling exclusively on the SGX-ST. This transaction provides a new, viable framework for US-listed technology companies seeking a secondary listing in Asia, marking a huge win for the exchange.
Leading global firms, including Jefferies, Morgan Stanley, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), and UBS Securities, jointly coordinated and book-run the offering.
Further momentum in SGX in 2025
- Beyond the reforms, the SGX Group’s own performance has also been in focus this year. The exchange, which is nearly 25 years old, reported stellar full-year results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.
- The exchange also sees a steady pipeline of new issuers, with developer Soon Hock Enterprise Holding Ltd successfully listing on the Mainboard on October 16, 2025, after raising SGD 34.6 million in net proceeds.
- Property management services group LHN’s co-living business Coliwoo has also launched its initial public offering of 80.3 million shares at S$0.60 each, in conjunction with its listing on the mainboard of the SGX.The company registered its prospectus on October 28, 2025.
- While this IPO activity is still a far cry from the volume seen in Hong Kong—which KPMG expects to secure the 2025 global IPO crown—it represents a decisive step in the right direction for Singapore.
How can retail traders in Singapore get involved in the SGX
SGX is one of the constituents of the Straits Times Index (STI), which is used to price OANDA's Singapore 30 CFDs. Retail traders can use OANDA’s platform to trade Index CFDs to gain exposure to the performance of the STI. The STI is composed of the top 30 listed companies by full market capitalisation on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), calculated and published by FTSE Russell. It is widely recognised as the benchmark index for the Singapore stock market.
Find out more about trading indices CFDs with OANDA.
Further reading: What are stock market indices? How to invest in them?
