Deal is rejected. It is reported that Australia has formally rejected the SGX-ASX deal. Extracted from the statement made by Wayne Swan, “However, FIRB's recommendation, which incorporated advice from ASIC, the RBA and the Australian Treasury, was that not having full regulatory sovereignty over the ASX-SGX holding company would present material risks and supervisory issues impacting on the effective regulation of the ASX's operations, particularly its clearing and settlement functions. Australia's financial regulators have advised me that reforms to strengthen our regulatory framework should be a condition of any foreign ownership of the ASX to remove these risks.” Yesterday, SGX had sent written responses to the  Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) about the bid. SGX has not amended the terms of the proposed merger. SGX and ASX maintain their belief that the merger proposal would result in significant benefits for Australia and Singapore, market users and the shareholders of SGX and ASX.

Opportunities on existing business. Regardless of the deal, SGX still has ample opportunities in its existing business and is well positioned to leverage on the prospects within Asia. SGX will continue to pursue organic and other strategic growth opportunities, including further dialogue with ASX on other forms of co-operation. We do not think SGX is in a rush to pursue another M& A so soon.