Proposed Global Listing Board
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) and Singapore Exchange Regulation (“SGX RegCo”) issued their respective consultation papers on 9 January 2026 on the proposed amendments to the Securities and Futures Act 2001 (“SFA”) and draft regulations, and the proposed listing rules regarding the proposed launch of the new Global Listing Board for companies who wish to list on both the Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) and Nasdaq.
This new Global Listing Board came about from the final set of measures announced by the Equities Market Review Group on 19 November 2025 to strengthen the competitiveness of the Singapore equities market, which include the establishment of a dual listing bridge to connect SGX and Nasdaq to provide companies with a direct and harmonised pathway to simultaneously list and access capital across North America and Asia. SGX will establish the new Global Listing Board to implement this dual listing bridge.
KEY CHANGES PROPOSED BY MAS
To facilitate the dual listing bridge under the Global Listing Board, MAS has proposed the following key changes:
1. Enabling issuers to use a single set of documents seeking a dual listing on the Global Listing Board by incorporating certain US prospectus disclosure requirements for both initial public offering (“IPO”) and post-listing stages.
2. Adjusting the registration process to allow for prospectuses to be registered earlier to smoothen the process for issuers to undertake concurrent offerings in the US and Singapore.
3. Introducing 3 safe harbours which are currently available in the US to issuers and other relevant persons to allow them to (a) issue forward-looking statements, (b) repurchase their common stock in the open market and (c) make pre-determined trades according to a trading plan, without being exposed to criminal or civil liability under Part 12 of the SFA. Nevertheless, these safe harbours will not provide a valid defence where there is fraud or dishonesty involved and will only apply if all the relevant conditions are met, including the requirement that such activities are undertaken in good faith.
Further, to facilitate the offering process in general, MAS has also proposed the following key changes:
1. Permitting the engagement of retail investors by all issuers earlier in the IPO process to enable issuers seeking a dual listing on the Global Listing Board to align the timing of their engagement with retail investors in both Singapore and the US.
2. In relation to an offer of sponsored depositary receipts, specifying that the issuers of the underlying instrument are required to register the prospectus instead of the depositary to enable investors to obtain information about the issuer of the underlying instrument.
KEY GLOBAL LISTING BOARD RULES PROPOSED BY SGX REGCO
A. Admission requirements for the Global Listing Board
1. An issuer must satisfy the following quantitative standards:
a. have a market capitalisation of at least S$2 billion based on the issue price and post-invitation issued share capital; and
b. one of the following requirements:
i. revenue requirement of at least US$90 million of total revenue in the latest completed financial year;
ii. income requirement of (A) aggregate income from continuing operations before income taxes of at least US$11 million over the prior 3 financial years; (B) positive income from continuing operations before income taxes in each of the prior 3 financial years; and (C) at least US$2.2 million income from continuing operations before income taxes in each of the 2 most recent financial years; or
iii. assets with equity requirement of (A) total assets of at least US$80 million; and (B) shareholders’ equity of at least US$55 million.
SGX RegCo will apply the quantitative standards in a similar manner to Nasdaq for Global Select Market (“Nasdaq GSM”) admission. The issuer must also have been approved for listing (in the case of an IPO), or be listed, on the Nasdaq GSM in order to be listed on the Global Listing Board.
2. An issuer will be required to undertake fundraising in Singapore.
3. An issuer will be required to allocate the lower of 5%, or S$50 million, of the total value of the securities being offered for subscription or sale in Singapore to one or more designated retail brokerages operating in Singapore. Distribution will be done through such retail brokerages during the period between the lodgment of the prospectus and its registration.
4. An issuer must remain listed at all times on the Nasdaq GSM. If an issuer is delisted from the Nasdaq GSM or no longer listed on the Nasdaq GSM, it will be delisted from the Global Listing Board.
5. An issuer must have at least 500 shareholders worldwide at listing and an arrangement in place to facilitate the movement of securities between US and Singapore on a continuing basis.
6. An issuer must prepare its financial statements in accordance with, or reconciled to, Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (International), International Financial Reporting Standards, or US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The annual financial statements must be audited by certified public accountants in accordance with Singapore Standards on Auditing, International Standards on Auditing, US Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, or auditing standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
7. An issuer must have, at all times, either a Singapore resident independent director or in the alternative, a Singapore-based compliance adviser.
8. Admission to, and continued listing on, the Global Listing Board is subject to the full discretion of SGX RegCo. As SGX RegCo will apply an approach harmonised with US practices in its review of listing through the dual listing bridge, it is thus expected that an issuer which has received approval to list, or is already listed on Nasdaq, would typically also be considered eligible to list in Singapore through this dual listing bridge.
9. All issuers shall be required to appoint an accredited issue manager in Singapore for the purposes of its application to list through this bridge on the Global Listing Board. The issue manager shall be responsible for managing the listing application of the issuer and shall be required to confirm to SGX RegCo that the applicable prospectus disclosure requirements under the SFA, and the admission requirements for the listing of the issuer on the Global Listing Board, have been complied with.
B. Ongoing requirement for issuers on the Global Listing Board
1. Issuers are required to ensure that all disclosures made in the US pursuant to their disclosure of material information obligations under the Nasdaq listing rules are announced on SGXNET. SGX RegCo expects that all filings made on the US Securities and Exchange Commission Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system by the issuer will be announced vis SGXNET at the same time. Other material disclosures made by the issuer will be required to be released in Singapore via SGXNET within 1 trading day after the date that they were filed in the US.
2. If the securities of the issuer are halted or suspended from trading on Nasdaq and remains halted or suspended prior to the start of trading in Singapore, the issuer must also request for a trading halt or suspension of its listed securities on the SGX before market open in Singapore.
3. Any material disclosures made in Singapore must be done at least 30 minutes before the start of trading. If an issuer is unable to do so, it must apply for a trading halt prior to making such disclosures.
4. The issuer must provide an annual certification of compliance with its continuing listing obligations on the Global Listing Board.
5. The issuer must be listed on the Nasdaq GSM at all times. If the issuer is no longer listed on the Nasdaq GSM, it will be subject to delisting from the Global Listing Board.
6. SGX RegCo will have the power to take disciplinary action against an issuer for any breach of the GLB Rules, including the power to impose sanctions that include reminders, private warnings and public reprimand, and/or require remedial actions from the issuer.
7. As a transitional measure, SGX RegCo will allow an eligible issuer applying for a secondary listing on the SGX to concurrently apply for a listing on the Global Listing Board, in the period between the release of this consultation to the commencement of the Global Listing Board.