Stefanie Yuen Thio, joint managing director of law firm TSMP, said the IPO market for next year “still feels quiet”. “With so much uncertainty in the global economy and with talk of China pulling back on overseas investments, nobody is rushing to list in Singapore.”

But she added: “That said, 2016 was a year of freak results. Markets were slated to crash if (Donald) Trump won; instead we are now expecting a bull run in the US. Will this lead to a rise in markets everywhere or will the new administration slam down protectionist trade policies that hurt us more? Conventional wisdom no longer has a voice in this conversation.”

Ms Yuen Thio said real estate-related stocks trading below net asset value or book value will continue to come under privatisation pressure. But she said she doubted the “wave of delistings Singapore saw in 2016 will continue”.

“This year saw the confluence of the privatisation of NOL as well as the government taking back SMRT. I don’t think we have comparable sized companies about to be delisted,” she said.

Read more at The Business Times