Significant Investments Review Bill: What It Means for Business and Investments in Singapore

By Ramiro Rodriguez and Lucy Megarry

A draft of the new Significant Investments Review Bill was introduced to Parliament on 6 November 2023. The bill is now due for a second reading in January 2024. If enacted, the bill will commence the first industrywide regime restricting investments in Singapore.

The bill applies to all local and foreign, incorporated and unincorporated entities in Singapore that meet the following criteria:

a.  Are incorporated, formed or established in Singapore; and
b.  Carry out any activity in Singapore; or
c.  Provide any goods or services to any person in Singapore.

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Singapore Private Equity and Venture Capital Landscape Series – Limited Partnerships

Limited partnerships (LPs) are commonly used globally as fund vehicles for both private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds. In Singapore, LPs were created as a business vehicle by the Limited Partnerships Act in 2008 (the Act), which came into effect on 4 May 2009 as part of Singapore’s efforts to become a fund management hub.

Those efforts have been supplemented by a myriad of other measures including (a) the creation of variable capital companies (VCCs) by the Variable Companies Act 2018, which came into force only on 14 January 2020; (b) the establishment of several classes of fund management licences including the venture capital fund management licence; and (c) a favourable tax environment that includes a one-tier system of taxation of income, no capital gain taxes and an extensive network of double taxation treaties, as well as several incentive schemes and grants. We will discuss these measures in more detail in other articles. Continue reading “Singapore Private Equity and Venture Capital Landscape Series – Limited Partnerships”

Virtual Power Purchase Agreements in Singapore

Rising pressure to move towards net-zero carbon emissions has resulted in an increasing number of large corporations entering into physical power purchase agreements (PPA) and/or virtual power purchase agreements (VPPA) for renewable energy.

In resource-scarce Singapore, solar energy remains the main source of locally generated renewable energy. Recently, Singapore unveiled one of the world’s largest floating solar panel farms, but due to Singapore’s land constraints, the majority of the solar photovoltaic systems are deployed on building rooftops. Under a PPA arrangement, a corporation with rooftop space enters into a long-term offtake agreement to purchase power from a solar generator at a pre-agreed price based on a specific delivery schedule. This arrangement is commonly referred to as “solar leasing” in Singapore since the project developer will typically lease the rooftop from the corporation to install solar panels.

However, PPAs are often not feasible when dealing with constraints like limited rooftop space or where energy demands are in excess of rooftop energy generation. In such situations, we have seen more corporations turn to VPPAs to meet their sustainability goals.

We set out below a brief overview on VPPAs, including some of the key issues that, in our experience, parties to a contract often encounter.

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Rise of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in Singapore

During the recent Budget announcement in February this year, Minister of Finance Lawrence Wong stated that Singapore will aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by or around 2050, in line with our commitment to address the challenges of climate change.

Presently, the bulk of Singapore’s energy supply comes from natural gas, and the power sector accounts for about 40 percent of the country’s total emissions. This paired with growing environmental awareness in Singapore have started putting pressure on organisations to meet clean energy goals as investors and customers become more vocal about the importance of using green energy. This growing pressure from stakeholders has led to a rise in the use of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) by businesses, as a means of fulfilling their sustainability commitments and reducing their carbon footprint.

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新加坡私募和风投行业系列 – 简介篇

近年来,新加坡已迅速成长为全球资产管理行业(资管行业)的中心,众多投资者和资管经理汇集于此。2020 年,新加坡的资产管理总额 (AUM) 增长了 17%,达 4.7 万亿新元,高于 2019 年的 4万亿新元1。 这种强劲的增长是由大量流入的传统和另类投资资金所驱动的,包括私募股权 (私募) 和风险投资 (风投)。 那一年,私募和风投的资产管理总额分别增长了 54% 和 49%,达到 3,750 亿新元和 160 亿新元。 我们认为,新加坡资产管理规模将在未来几年将持续保持增长势头。

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Singapore Private Equity and Venture Capital Landscape Series – A Brief Introduction

Singapore’s asset management industry has fast become a global hub for investors and managers and is central to the country’s financial services industry. In 2020, total assets under management (AUM) in Singapore grew 17 percent to reach S$4.7 trillion, up from S$4.0 trillion in 2019[1]. This robust growth was driven by strong inflows into both traditional and alternative investment strategies, including the private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) asset classes. PE and VC AUM grew by 54 percent and 49 percent to S$375 billion and S$16 billion, respectively, in that year. In our view, the size of the industry in Singapore will continue to grow in the coming years.

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The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

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