The 21-slide briefing was a minor miracle: an Asia-themed presentation made just a single, glancing mention of China. This is a refreshingly honest strategy for the combined SGX/ASX exchanges group, on course to become the world’s fourth largest by market value. To be a credible destination for international capital, it has to leave China to Hong Kong, and move on.
For years, the “little red dot” of Singapore fought a one-sided battle against the big red blotch 2,573km to the north-east, even as both exchanges outperformed rivals in the US and Europe. The value of shares traded in Singapore grew 12 times between 1990 and 2009; Hong Kong, buoyed by a steady stream of newcomers from the Chinese mainland, was up by 43 times. Hong Kong debutants have raised almost nine dollars for every one raised by new issuers in Singapore over the past decade. Desperate to close the gap, SGX relaxed standards: over the past 10 years, the FTSE-Straits Times index of Singapore-listed Chinese companies is down 34 per cent. Hong Kong-quoted Chinese stocks are up 685 per cent.
SGX chief executive Magnus B?cker is paying a heady price to vault into the big league. But an $8.4bn equity value, equivalent to