22 January, 2019
Come February, enterprises will be able to tap into a S$75 million grant administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for help with fund raising through Singapore's equity market. The Grant for Equity Market Singapore ("GEMS"), which will span three years, seeks to strengthen Singapore's position as the top spot in Asia for enterprises seeking growth financing.
GEMS will comprise three components: a Listing Grant to ease the costs borne by companies in seeking a listing on the Singapore Exchange, a Research Talent Development Grant to groom equity research talent, and a Research Initiatives Grant to support crowd-sourced initiatives to nurture Singapore’s equity research ecosystem.
The degree of assistance available to enterprises under the Listing Grant will vary among sectors -technology companies, with a minimum market capitalisation of S$300 million, will be eligible to pocket the most funding.
An enterprise in the new technology sector (consumer digital technologies, financial technologies, gaming services and peripherals, and on-demand services), which meets the market capitalisation requirement, can look forward to a grant of 70% of qualifying costs, capped at S$1 million. Enterprises in high-growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing, digital cluster, healthcare, hub services, logistics, and urban solutions and infrastructure, which meet the market capitalisation requirement, could receive funding of 20% of qualifying costs, capped at S$500,000. Enterprises in all other sectors will be eligible for a grant of 20% of qualifying costs, capped at S$200,000, without having to meet a minimum market capitalisation. "Qualifying costs" include Singapore-based professional fees and all underwriting placement fees if more than 50% of such fees are attributable to Singapore-based entities.
GEMS will kick off on 14 February 2019 and more details relating to the initiative will be released in the lead-up to its launch.
Click here to view the press release by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on GEMS.
For further information, please contact:
Marcus Chow, Partner, Bird & Bird
marcus.chow@twobirds.com
