Singapore Exchange is poised to allow dual-class voting rights for listed companies, following legal changes aimed at boosting the city-state’s ability to compete for initial public offerings.
The SGX move follows efforts by its Hong Kong rival to relax rules on dual-class shares — which the regulator shot down last year before a consultation phase could be reached.
Hong Kong lost Alibaba’s IPO to the US in 2014 because the Chinese ecommerce group wanted a different governance structure. Manchester United shifted its IPO from Singapore to New York in 2012 in a move that allowed the Glazer family to retain control through a dual-class structure.