Commentaries

Commentary: Why ESG Investing Must Matter to Retail Investors

Climate Crisis Today’s investment landscape is marked by the growing importance of ESG (environmental, social & governance) considerations, thus requiring investors to understand relatively new terms like “ESG,” “sustainability,” “decarbonisation,” “greenhouse gas (GHG),” “net zero targets,” “greenwashing,” “COP28,” “carbon credit,” and...

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Commentary: Time to make it listed firms’ business to tackle undervalued shares to revive S’pore’s stock market

First published in Straits Times on 11 April 2024 Calls to revive interest in local stocks have been growing in frequency over the past few years, stretching back to 2015, when 1,225 remisiers signed a letter of appeal written by the...

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Commentary: Directors must choose substance over form – but the form has to have substance

First published in Straits Times on 9 February 2024 Do all listed company directors in Singapore properly discharge their fiduciary duties, particularly the preservation of minority interests? Corporate governance advocates, including the Securities Investors Association of Singapore (Sias), would reply that quite...

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Commentary – Don’t rush, make informed choices: 5 ways retail investors can take charge in 2024

First published in Straits Times on 28 December 2023 It certainly has been a tumultuous year for investors with stock and bond markets undergoing many ups and downs, driven mainly by inflationary worries and expectations of what central banks, particularly the...

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Commentary – Cordlife: The appropriate test of materiality that should have been applied

First published in Straits Times on 15 December 2023 What is the appropriate test of materiality that companies should apply when making corporate disclosures? This question has direct relevance to the case of cord-blood bank service provider Cordlife Group, which is embroiled...

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Commentary: Boustead, a wake up call for retail investors?

First published in Straits Times on 17 November 2023 SINGAPORE - Shareholders of the several companies who accepted “lowball’’ buyout offers must surely be feeling more than a touch of envy – and possibly even regret – at news of the...

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Commentary: What investors need to know about privatisation offers to buy out shares

First published in Straits Times on 18 June 2023 When it comes to stock investments, the conventional wisdom is that companies list via an initial public offer (IPO) to raise capital from the public. After that, they use that capital to grow...

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Commentary: SDRs: Is this another CLOB?

Almost 25 years after Malaysian shares abruptly ceased to be traded in Singapore in an episode that has become known as the infamous CLOB International saga, local stock exchange officials are launching a new, but roughly similar initiative that will...

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Minority shareholders should hold out against Lian Beng’s lowball offer

First published in Business Times on 19 April 2023 Construction and engineering company Lian Beng Group : L03 -0.74% is trying its luck with a lowball privatisation offer for the company. Minority shareholders should stand their ground, as they may hold a...

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Commentary: Privatisation offers too often a dilemma for shareholders

First published in Straits Times on 27 March 2023 Over the past decade, thanks to low interest rates, depressed valuations and poor liquidity, takeover-cum-privatisation exercises have become commonplace in the local stock market. Many well-known companies such as Osim International, Koufu, Eu...

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