The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Securities and Futures (Short Selling) Regulations 2018 will require investors to report their short positions and short sell orders in securities listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), with effect from 1 October 2018. This is intended to improve transparency on short selling activities and enable investors to make more informed trading decisions. Under the new rules, investors with short positions above the lower of: (a) 0.2% of total issues shares/units; or (b) S$2 million, will have to report these positions to MAS through a new online portal, the Short Position Reporting System (SPRS). 

MAS will publish aggregated short positions of each security on Wednesday of each week. Identities of short sellers will not be disclosed. Market participants can access the SPRS and familiarise themselves with the system before mandatory reporting commences on 1 October 2018.

The new rules will also provide statutory backing to SGX’s trading rules which already require securities brokers and banks to flag all investor short sell orders to the exchange. There will be no change to the current arrangement for investors to inform their brokers when they submit short sell orders. SGX will continue to consolidate the short sell orders of each security and publish the information daily.

If members have any questions or comments, please contact Adam Jacobs-Dean, Oliver Robinson or Adele Rentsch.