That accountability structure deserves acknowledgement. But a frank question must be asked: is Value Unlock, as currently designed, sufficient to achieve what institutional investors actually require before committing serious capital to a Singapore-listed company? The programme is a necessary first step. On its own, it is not enough.
Approximately 120 Singapore-listed companies have engaged with the Value Unlock programme since applications opened on Jan 16 this year. The programme, a $30 million package designed to help listed companies strengthen investor engagement and sharpen their focus on shareholder value creation, represents the most operationally direct supply-side measure in the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) equity market reform effort to date.
The co-investment structure is deliberate: both government and company have skin in the game, with companies required to bear 50% of all costs. As Chan Kam Kong, head of capital market development at the Singapore Exchange (SGX), stated at the programme’s January launch: “These are taxpayers’ money. We want to make sure that this is well spent. Listcos has got to demonstrate commitment and skin in the game.”
