For Singapore’s SGX exchange, this month’s launch of a trading link between the Hong Kong and Shanghai equity markets has loomed large, as investors look ever more anxiously at the rise of China’s capital markets.
对新加坡交易所(SGX)而言，本月启动的沪港通是一块很大的乌云，因为投资者越来越焦虑地关注着中国资本市场的崛起。
But far from being unnerved, Magnus Böcker, SGX chief executive, believes the landmark link will actually help his business in the long run.
但新交所首席执行官薄满乐(Magnus Böcker)非但没有感到惊慌，反而相信香港和上海之间具有里程碑意义的股市链接，从长期看实际上有利于新交所的业务。

“It’s important for all of us in the exchange world that it becomes a success because it shows the importance of connectivity – and that liquidity feeds liquidity,” he says.
“对于交易所圈子的所有人而言，沪港通取得成功是很重要的，因为它展示出互联互通的重要性，而流动性会带来更多流动性，”他说。
One ripple effect from the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme has already been felt in Singapore: trading volume in SGX’s FTSE China A50 index – the only index on Chinese shares available outside China – more than doubled in the quarter ahead of the link’s launch.
沪港通机制的一个涟漪效应已经可以在新加坡感受到：新交所富时中国A50指数(FTSE China A50 index)——中国境外推出的唯一中国股指——的交易量在沪港通启动前的那个季度增加一倍多。
Now, Mr Böcker is working on an Asian link of his own: in September he began talks with the Taiwan stock exchange about connecting markets.
现在，薄满乐正致力于打造自己的亚洲链接：9月，他开始与台湾证券交易所(Taiwan stock exchange)洽谈互连市场。
He says that, with Singapore and Taiwan developing rapidly as offshore centres for China’s renminbi, a link with Taiwan opens up “greater China” opportunities for investors.
他表示，鉴于新加坡和台湾正快速发展成为人民币离岸中心，与台湾互联互通将为投资者开启“大中华”机遇。
This, he hopes, will help counteract a torrid year for the equity markets run by SGX. A penny stock scandal a year ago dented investor confidence, and Singapore’s markets have suffered anaemic volumes since. A three-hour trading outage this month has not helped.
他希望，此举将有助于新交所运行的股票市场摆脱一年来的窘境。一年前的一场细价股丑闻挫伤了投资者的信心，新加坡市场自那以来一直交易低迷。本月发生的三小时交易中断也于事无补。
Singapore has also been hit by de-listings of sizeable mid-cap stocks, as companies have chosen to take businesses private – including CapitaLand, southeast Asia’s biggest property developer, which this summer delisted its shopping mall operating unit, CapitaMalls Asia.
新加坡也受到规模可观的中盘股退市的打击。一些企业选择将业务收归私有，包括东南亚最大房地产开发商凯德集团(CapitaLand)，该公司今年夏天将旗下购物中心经营公司凯德商用(CapitaMalls Asia)摘牌。
Despite this, SGX remains the eighth-largest exchange globally, as measured by the market capitalisation of its operating company as a listed entity – just behind Japan Exchange Group and ahead of ASX of Australia. However, it was overtaken by Thailand’s stock exchange last year in terms of equity market trading volume.
尽管如此，新交所仍是全球第八大交易所（按照其经营公司作为上市实体的市值来衡量），刚刚落后于日本交易所集团(Japan Exchange Group)，领先于澳大利亚证券交易所(ASX)。不过，就股市交易量而言，新交所去年被泰国证交所超过。
In the fiscal first quarter that ended on September 31, revenue generated from equity market trading at SGX fell 29 per cent, as a result of a 27 per cent fall in average daily trading volume.
在截至9月30日的财年第一季度，新交所股市交易产生的营收下降29%，这是日均交易量下跌27%的结果。
Mr Böcker has moved to address this by signing up 21 banks and brokers to act as so-called liquidity providers and market makers, to encourage trading.
作为对策，薄满乐已经与21家银行和经纪公司签约，让它们充当所谓的流动性提供者和做市商，以求鼓励交易。
Liquidity providers receive a discount on the fees that SGX charges if they commit to trading a certain amount of shares in value terms, while market makers provide quotes at narrow bid-offer spreads on designated stocks.
流动性提供者如果承诺交易一定数量的股票（按价值计），就能得到新交所的收费折扣，而做市商对指定的股票提供买卖价差较窄的报价。
“Yes, volume is down, but the quality of the market – the spreads and depth of the market – has actually been enhanced following the introduction of these two programmes,” Mr Böcker says. “And we are only four months in.”
“没错，交易量有所下降，但在采取这两个计划后，市场的质量——价差和市场深度——实际上已得到增强，”薄满乐表示。“而我们才刚刚开始四个月。”
Average daily trading volume in shares covered by these programmes – including ThaiBev– jumped 129 per cent from June 1-October 31, compared with an overall market rise of 6 per cent.
从6月1日至10月31日，这两个计划覆盖的股票——包括泰国饮料(ThaiBev)——的日均交易量跃升129%，而市场整体的交易量增长6%。
In addition, from January, SGX plans to cut the “board lot size” – the number of shares investors must deal in – from 1,000 to 100, to make it easier to buy blue-chips. Then, in March, it aims to introduce a “minimum trading price” of 20 cents, to discourage “excessive speculation” in low-priced penny stocks.
另外，新交所计划从1月起将“每手买卖单位”（投资者必须交易的股票数量）从1000减至100，让投资者更容易购买蓝筹股。然后，新加坡拟从3月起实行20分的“最低交易价”，以阻止人们对价格低廉的细价股进行“过分投机”。
Mr Böcker also hopes to attract more international companies with a new system, introduced this month, that allows those listed on one of 22 bourses overseas – including London – to gain a secondary listing in Singapore more easily.
薄满乐还希望本月启用的一个新系统能够吸引更多海外企业，该系统让那些在海外22家股市（包括伦敦）之一上市的股票更容易在新加坡二次上市。
He can already take satisfaction from the strength of the derivatives business. It is closing in on equities trading as the largest source of income, accounting for 30 per cent of group revenues, against 33 per cent from equities.
他已经可以从衍生品业务的实力得到一些鼓舞。这块业务正逼近作为最大收入来源的股票交易，目前占集团总营收的30%，而股票交易占33%。
One reason is the success of certain futures contracts tied to China – such as iron ore swaps, which are widely used by Chinese traders, many based in Singapore – and of renminbi currency swaps, which were launched last month.
原因之一是涉及中国的某些期货合约获得成功，如铁矿石掉期合约，它们得到中国贸易商（有很多落户新加坡）的广泛使用，以及上月推出的人民币外汇掉期合约。
But all eyes will be on how SGX fares early next year when, for the first time, it faces competitors in its back yard.
但是，各方将密切关注新交所在明年初的表现如何，因为届时该交易所将首次在本土面对竞争对手。
Intercontinental Exchange, owner of NYSE, plans to launch a new commodities exchange in March, while Deutsche Börse is building an Asian clearing house. Both will be in Singapore.
纽约证券交易所(NYSE)的东家洲际交易所(Intercontinental Exchange)计划在3月推出一个新的大宗商品交易所，而德意志交易所(Deutsche Börse)正在建设一个亚洲清算中心。这两者都将设在新加坡。
Mr Böcker views rival offerings as an indicator of growth. “I think that [them] coming to Singapore is very important for the success of SGX because it once again proves Singapore as an international financial centre,” he says. “There is nothing that grows a business faster than more players being in it.”
薄满乐把竞争对手的产品视为一个增长指标。“我认为，（他们）来新加坡对于新交所的成功非常重要，因为它再次证明新加坡是一个国际金融中心，”他说。“要推动业务增长，没有什么比更多弄潮儿参与进来更快。”