A Look at the Current Investor Services Landscape in Singapore

Asia Business Outlook recently got an opportunity to interact with Helen Tan, Director of B.A.C.S., a Singapore-based share registrar that started in 1969 and is today, one of the most established in the local scene. In this exclusive interview, ABO finds out from Helen about the current investment services scenario in Singapore and various aspects related to it.

What does investor service cover? Why do listed companies require this support?

When a company wants to list on SGX, a share registrar comes in to support the liaison with relevant professionals and regulatory bodies. In Singapore, it is mandatory for companies to appoint a share registrar to take care of the registered members. The share registrar comes in to manage various tasks, which covers maintaining the registers of members and handling of corporate exercises. The latter can also include when Bonus Issue, Right Issue, Cash Offer, Scrip dividend etc are handed out, the allotment of new shares out of Performance Share Plans with companies’ management staff, and arranging the credit of new shares to involved individuals with The Central Depository (“CDP”). CDP is a subsidiary of SGX, and provides integrated clearing, settlement and depository services for investors who hold SGX-listed securities.

What are important factors when selecting an investor service provider in Singapore?

Quality service is essential for sure. Every company needs to carefully assess the range of services a service provider is offering, the value add that it can bring you, its after-sales customer support and other relevant considerations. This is especially important, I feel, for selecting an investor service provider.

Another major criterion would be the share registrar’s ability to deliver services timely – on top of doing the work well – given the mission-critical nature of the industry where much is at stake for companies and their businesses.

Tell us about the current investor services in landscape in Singapore.

In the 1980s, the shares used to be in the form of physical share certificates and had to be issued manually. Even making a transfer was very consuming, as it used to take around two weeks to complete a transfer. This changed after the emergence of CDP around 1990. We started working with CDP to shift our shareholders from script-based records to book entry, which was very much beneficial for our shareholders. In fact, one of the major advantages out of this change then was that the shareholders could get exempted from stamp duty.

"The leverage on technology has created a win-win situation for both service providers and customers"

Today, the scenario has improved multifold, wherein there is a lot of technology integration happening currently within the industry. This has led to a slew of enhancements across the entire process cycle, such that every function has become far more efficient, less time consuming and pretty much error-free.

How have technologies disrupted the way investor services are offered?

Technology has completely transformed the way our industry functions. Today, modern technologies have led to the streamlining of many processes and enabled businesses to deliver services more efficiently.

In fact Covid has also contributed towards one significant change: here in Singapore, the system now requires communication materials to be made electronically accessible on companies’ websites. There is no longer a need to send physical copies of reports, circulars or any other items to shareholders, unlike before. For the companies, this has led to huge cost savings – made possible through usage reduction of business essentials like postal stamps and envelopes, which actually can amount to hefty amounts.

Along the way, this has concurrently enhanced transparency for shareholders by giving them easy access to information. No doubt, the leverage on technology has created a win-win situation for both service providers and customers.