SGX - ASX Merger - dead in the water

Again, eerie silence descends on ASX after reported death of Singapore bid

Nice try, but the deal is finally dead. Perhaps its for the best.

"Doubts about whether the $8.4 billion deal ever had a chance surfaced from the outset and ASX has struggled from day one to keep the transaction alive, constantly on the back foot, repeatedly reinforcing the silly notion that handing over control to a Singapore government-controlled entity was a terrific idea." 

Probably not a good idea to have a foreign government control your private market. I know my original sentiments were in favour of the deal. However, my libertarian conscience got the better of me -- where there is a state involved, anything goes because those fuckers can tax and pass laws.

"The ASX is a key pillar in the national financial architecture. Singapore is a democracy in name only. In practice, it is a one-party state dominated by a single family. The Prime Minister is a Lee. His wife runs Temasek, the government investment arm. Temasek controls the Singapore exchange."

Ouch! The truth will set you free, but it will piss you off first. It is problematic that  the government controls the economy in Singapore. To their credit: they are essentially 'free market", but like Lord Acton, we know what we know about absolute power and the tendency of human nature to be incentivised to wield that power for maximum self-interest.

Also to the Singapore government's credit -- and I believe them -- was the reassurances they gave that the government would stay right out of the deal -- and they did. But...it is also wise to be wary of absolute power. It is true that the Singapore government didn't get up to any shenanigans during this bid, but there is no guarantee that they wouldn't do so in the future.

If the SGX was truly privately owned, this could have been a sweet deal fro the ASX.

 "[...] as for being a gateway to China, well that's a place called Hong Kong. "

Ian Verrender, the author of the SMH piece misses the point. At the moment most Australian enterprises do not go to Singapore to raise capital. But the world is changing.

Also, Singapore is a net exporter of capital, whilst Australia is a net consumer.

With regard to entry into China, the SGX just brings another possibility to choose from to the table of decision makers.