[World Corporate Law News] SEC Announces Agenda and Panelists for Roundtable on Options Market Structure

Editorial Team – [2026] 185 taxmann.com 153 (Article)

World Corporate Law News provides a weekly snapshot of corporate law developments from around the globe. Here’s a glimpse of the key corporate law update this week.

1. Securities Law

1.1 SEC announces Agenda and Panelists for Roundtable on Options Market Structure

On April 2, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the agenda and panelists for its roundtable on options market structure, scheduled for April 16, 2026.

The roundtable will be held at the SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C., from 9:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. ET. The event will be open to the public and webcast live on the SEC’s website. Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. ET.

For online attendance, registration is not necessary. A link to watch the event will be available on April 16 at www.sec.gov, and a recording will be made available on the SEC’s website at a later date.

Source – Press Release

1.2 Explanatory Brief – The Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2026

The Minister for National Development and Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Mr Chee Hong Tat, on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister-in-charge of the MAS, Mr Gan Kim Yong, moved the Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2026 for the First Reading in the Parliament.

The Bill seeks to enable the implementation of the proposed regulatory regime for the Global Listing Board (GLB) that the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading (SGX) and the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) will establish.

The GLB will enable issuers to list on both exchanges under a streamlined regulatory framework simultaneously. The Bill also provides MAS flexibility to adopt a similar framework for dual listing arrangements with other overseas exchanges should future opportunities arise.

MAS has conducted public consultation on the key amendments in the Bill. Comments received have been considered and, where appropriate, incorporated into the Bill.

Key Amendments in the Bill

Amendments have been made to two key areas, which are described below.

(a) New Part 13A

The Bill inserts a new Part 13A into the Securities and Futures Act 2001 (SFA) that empowers MAS to make regulations to facilitate the establishment of a dual-listing board (DLB) by SGX and an overseas exchange through a streamlined regulatory framework. The main amendments are as follows:

• Power to Prescribe Dual Listing Arrangements –  To effect the streamlined regulatory framework, MAS will be empowered to declare an overseas exchange (such as Nasdaq) as a “prescribed overseas exchange”. Likewise, MAS may also declare a dual-listing board set up by SGX (such as the GLB with Nasdaq) as a “prescribed DLB”.
• Regulation-making Powers – To harmonise potential differences between Singapore’s securities laws and those of the foreign jurisdiction, MAS may make regulations to replace, modify, or disapply the offer-related provisions and market misconduct provisions in the SFA for the prescribed DLB.

The regulation-making powers are subject to safeguards and minimum standards. The new Part 13A sets out the criteria that MAS would consider when deciding whether to prescribe a dual listing board as a prescribed DLB. These include whether the overseas exchange:

(i) enhances issuers’ access to liquidity and international investors; and

(ii) operates in a jurisdiction with securities laws that are in line with international standards in key areas such as disclosure, enforcement and regulatory co-operation.

(b) Other Amendments

In addition to the new Part 13A, the Bill makes other amendments to the SFA that apply to all offers generally. The main amendments are as follows:

• Earlier Engagement With Retail Investors – Issuers will be able to disseminate their preliminary prospectus when marketing to retail investors, and not only to institutional and accredited investors as is the case currently.
  This will enable issuers to engage retail investors in Singapore before the lodgement of the final prospectus. Such engagements are subject to safeguards. For instance, no official offer can be made based on the preliminary prospectus.
  In addition, the preliminary prospectus must clearly state that its content is subject to further changes. The issuer must also make a reasonable effort to inform recipients when the prospectus is finalised and ready for collection.
• Treatment of Sponsored Depositary Receipts – For offers of sponsored depositary receipts, the issuer of the underlying securities, rather than the depositary, must register the prospectus. Investors will therefore obtain information about the issuer, rather than the financial institution that acts as an intermediary in issuing the depositary receipts.

Source – Official Announcement

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