Asia round-up: Listless listing

Singapore has proposed a puzzling initiative, supposedly designed to attract more hedge fund money to the Lion City. In March, the Stock Exchange of Singapore issued a consultation paper outlining its plans to list hedge funds locally. Quite why a hedge fund would want to list on SES is not explained. What is clear is that such a move would not create extra liquidity: the suggested guidelines state that there will be no dealings in listed hedge funds. The only feasible reason to list would be for prestige. But hedge funds don’t work that way and their predilection for discretion suggests that few of them would be interested.