Singapore’s Approach to the Regulation of Capital Markets

Two thousand years ago, in ancient Rome, enterprises contracted with the government to build temples and collect taxes. The enterprises funded these ventures by selling ownership or equity stakes in the form of shares which were readily transferable among the Romans. Later, the Italian city states sourced for funds from their citizens in the form of bonds to finance wars, while merchants sought financing from individuals to procure better vessels for sailing over ever increasing distances. Over time, a market developed to enable holders of bonds and equities to sell their holdings to other interested buyers. Thus was born – what we now call – capital markets.