The Securities Association of Singapore (SAS) has issued a set of industry guidelines for its members when they announce trading restrictions of any SGX-listed securities.

This initiative arises from a joint consultation by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Exchange in February 2014, where ensuring transparency of trading restrictions imposed by securities intermediaries is among the proposals made to improve trading practices in the securities market.

Under the SAS Trading Restriction Guidelines, when a member firm decides to tighten its trading policy to manage its credit risk exposure to its customers’ trading activities in a particular SGX-listed security, it will make a public disclosure and provide the rationale for the trading restriction on its website.

The SAS Trading Restriction Guidelines serve to ensure that information on trading restrictions is disseminated in a consistent, fair, orderly and transparent manner for the benefit of the investing public, as some investors have perceived that such information may have an impact on market prices.

The public can view the announcements on SAS members’ websites. SAS will also provide links on its website to these announcements to facilitate investor access to the information.

This new initiative takes effect tomorrow.