Ditching MTP rule is about listening to the market

IT'S not often that the Singapore Exchange reverses a rule it deemed necessary just a few years back.

On Thursday, Singapore's frontline market regulator conceded that the minimum trading price (MTP) rule for mainboard-listed companies should be scrapped.

Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGXRegco) chief Tan Boon Gin did not consider the MTP a mistake, but he acknowledged market feedback that had highlighted its shortcomings. He said the MTP has been a "blunt tool" that created various "unintended consequences" for issuers and shareholders.

Indeed, it is hard to see how the MTP rule - introduced in the wake of the October 2013 penny stock crash …