40.

The Government will continue to fine-tune its tax regime to promote the development of the financial services sector and to ensure that Singapore continues to be a conducive centre for trading and transacting financial products.

41.

The securities markets today are facing a period of intense technological change and competition. Exchanges worldwide have been restructuring themselves in the face of globalising equity markets. Advancement in technology has not only created new competition from alternative trading systems, it has also facilitated the rapid flow of capital to markets which offer the greatest efficiency and lowest trading costs.

42.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has responded to these challenges with a series of initiatives. Liberalisation of the fixed brokerage commissions system will be accelerated. Commissions on all trades regardless of value will be freely negotiable from 1 January 2001, instead of 1 January 2003. Stamp duty on contract notes on share transactions is now only 0.05 per cent, and had been suspended until 29 June 2000 as part of our earlier response to the economic crisis. To further enhance the competitiveness of our stock exchanges, stamp duty on contract notes on share transactions will be abolished with effect from June 2000. The annual revenue loss to Government is estimated at $70 million, based on the average stock market transactions for the past 3 years.