Date: April 25, 2014
– As many of you know, SIAS came about unexpectedly in June
1999,
in a bid to protect some 172,000 CLOB investors, whose investments worth
about US$6 billion were frozen by the Malaysian authorities.
– David Gerald, who saw the plight and anguish of many, led a
small
group of civic-minded Singaporeans to resolve the issue. My involvement
with SIAS goes right back to these early days.
– But DG would not have been able to do this alone, without the
unity and staunch support of you members.
In unity, there is strength. It was very much your fight as it was for
David
and the team at SIAS. That’s why we are all here today to celebrate
SIAS’
15th Anniversary.
Allow me to reiterate the priorities of SIAS.
(1) Making Singaporeans better-informed investors
SIAS to have chosen to focus on investor education as one of its primary
objectives. This is to help ordinary citizens make informed investment
decisions.
A real challenge – Singaporeans generally do not see the need and are
therefore unwilling to pay for investor education programmes. But SIAS
persevered and has organised about 900 investor education programmes
since
year 2000, benefiting almost 112,000 citizens from all walks of life.
Today, you can find wealth of information on the SIAS website, with over
15
million hits per annum and an average 60,000 page views per month,
clearly
one of the favourite sources of financial information.
(2) Championing investor rights
Ensuring investors’ rights are protected is the very heart of SIAS’
existence. Thus, it is only natural that SIAS also champions corporate
governance.
Good corporate governance in listed companies is important to not only
the
development of our capital markets but also the security of our
investments.
SIAS has taken many initiatives to help foster good corporate governance
and
raise standards.
– Through the Investors’ Choice Awards, using the OECD CG
Principles, Singapore CG Code and the Shareholder Confidence Index by
Brendan Wood International, SIAS rates and honours companies that excel
in
transparency and good corporate governance practices.
– SIAS also conducts and publishes research on the corporate
governance practices of SGX listed companies and stages the annual
Corporate
Governance Conference.
SIAS is not afraid to highlight those companies whose corporate
governance
standards have fallen short. How?
– SIAS, as the only voice for retail investors, has raised
issues
and concerns of minority shareholders with boards.
– Manages issues in a collaborative and conciliatory manner
with
regulator, listcos, brokers and/or other stakeholders with an “In the
Boardroom and NOT the Courtroom” policy going for a Win-Win resolution.
– Some notable cases include: Natsteel, Yellow Pages, China
Aviation Oil, Olam, Chartered Semiconductor and China Sky
All these efforts are to protect your interests and your investments.
Over the years, has earned a reputation of being a reasonable voice
among
the regulators and listed companies. Yet, it has not shied away from
taking
up your cause outside the “courtroom”.
Views are constantly sought after by the media, regulators and even
boards.
Today, SIAS has earned the respect of the international community.
– member of the OECD Roundtable for corporate governance.
– been invited to address many international forums in the US
incl
Treasury Department, by the European Parliament and the International
Monetary Fund, just to name a few.
– presented the Gold Standard Award by Public Affairs Asia for
our
work in promoting governance
The Next Lap – So What’s Next?
SIAS will continue to focus on protecting investor rights and enhance
investor welfare, with respect to investments in securities made through
Singapore-registered financial institutions. What further initiatives?
– extend our reach to the community by working with the CDCs
and PA
to help organise and educate even more ordinary citizens to help them
invest
wisely.
– actively engage younger investors, by working closely with
the
universities investment clubs and all polytechnics.
You members can expect even more offerings.
All these efforts and more can only be achieved with your continued
help,
support and feedback. I therefore thank you for being the inspiration of
SIAS.
Let me end by wishing you all an enjoyable evening. TY.
