Schemes and Initiatives
 Published Date: 17 September 2021

Grant for Equity Market Singapore Scheme

MAS introduced the Grant for Equity Market Singapore (GEMS) scheme to support listings and expand the equity research ecosystem in our public equity market. GEMS has three components: (i) a Listing Grant that helps issuers defray some of their listing costs; (ii) a Research Talent Development Grant to groom equity research talent and enrich research coverage of Singapore-listed companies; as well as (iii) a Research Initiatives Grant to support initiatives that will catalyse public market activities in Singapore and boost the development of Singapore’s equity research ecosystem.

Grant Details

1. The Listing Grant supports potential issuers to list in Singapore by funding part of their listing-related expenses. The criteria are as follows:

  Details
Listing Board SGX Mainboard Catalist
Qualifying Issuances

Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”) and secondary listings, including Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)[1], Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) and Business Trusts (“BTs”) (with REITs and BTs subject to a cap), and Reverse Takeovers (“RTOs”) on the Singapore Exchange (“SGX”)


[1] SPACs will only qualify for a one-time claim upon listing and not at the stage of de-SPAC.

Issuers with an IPO, secondary listing or RTO

 

 
Funding Level

All listings, including secondary listings, with concurrent fund raising:

Market Capitalisation

Funding

S$1 billion and above

70% co-funding of eligible expenses with a grant cap of S$2 million

Below S$1 billion

70% co-funding of eligible expenses with a grant cap of S$1 million

 

Secondary listings (minimum market capitalisation of S$1 billion and above) with fund raising at a later date after listing:

Fund raising

Funding

Within 6 months

70% co-funding of follow-on fund-raising expenses with a grant cap of S$1.5 million

Between 6 - 12 months

70% co-funding of follow-on fund-raising expenses with a grant cap of S$1 million

No fund-raising or fund-raising 12 months after listing

70% co-funding of eligible listing expenses with a grant cap of S$500,000

 

All listings with concurrent fund raising:

20% co-funding of eligible expenses, with a grant cap of S$300,000, regardless of market capitalisation
Eligible Expenses   

Business spending made to Singapore-based providers that are directly attributable to a Qualifying Issuance, including:

  • Audit fees

  • Intangible assets valuation and evaluation related expenses

  • Independent market research fees

  • Issue manager and sponsor fees

  • Legal fees

  • SGX listing fees

  • Underwriting and placement fees

2. The Research Talent Development Grant support efforts to expand Singapore’s research coverage of listed companies and develop equity research talent. The criteria are as follows:

  Details
Eligible Applicants Financial institutions, including brokers, fund managers, venture capitals, private equities, private banking, credit rating agencies with equity research capabilities, and independent research providers based in Singapore
Eligible Hire

Fresh Graduate Programme 

  • Singapore Citizen who is a fresh graduate from polytechnic, university, or  postgraduate programmes, and has less than 6 months equity research experience, and less than 2 years of working experience

Experienced Professional Programme

  • Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident with more than 5 years of equity research experience, and who has been unemployed for 3 months or longer; or was retrenched
Funding Level and Duration

Fresh Graduate Programme 

  • 70% co-funding of salaries over 2 years, capped at S$4,200 per month

Experienced Professional Programme

  • 50% co-funding of salaries over 2 years for Singapore Citizens, capped at S$6,000 per month

  • 50% co-funding of salaries over 1 year for Singapore Permanent Residents, capped at S$6,000 per month
Eligible Expenses  Salary costs relating to an Eligible Hire:

  • Fixed basic salaries including fixed allowances, employee central provident fund (“CPF”) contributions, but not including bonus (whether fixed or variable) and employer CPF contributions; or

  • Variable income including commission and remuneration per equity research report, if an Eligible Hire is not remunerated based on a fixed basic salary

3. The Research Initiatives Grant supports initiatives that will catalyse public market activities in Singapore and boost the development of Singapore’s equity research ecosystem. Such initiatives could include new format of equity research, or innovative ways to distribute research and disseminate enterprise information to investors. 

 

Refer to Annex A (146.8 KB) for infographics on the GEMS grant scheme.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can write to fsdf@mas.gov.sg for more information.

Applicants of the Listing Grant should submit their applications no later than 3 months after the issuance or listing date.

Applicants of the Research Talent Development Grant and Research Initiatives Grant should submit their applications prior to hiring or commencement of projects.

The GEMS scheme is valid until 31 December 2023.