20 October 2021

A legal memorandum has found that international law and guidance places due diligence obligations on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), and possible liability on the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Government, in relation to companies doing business with the Myanmar military.

The legal memo authored by Felicity Gerry QC, counsel on the list at the International Criminal Court and at the Bar of England and Wales and Victoria, Australia, and Daye Gang, also of the Victorian Bar in Australia, focused on the listing of Emerging Towns & Cities Singapore (ETC), the developer of the Golden City complex, under a build-operate-transfer agreement with the Myanmar Army’s Quartermaster General’s Office (QMGO). The memo was written at the request of the Australian Centre for International Justice and Justice For Myanmar.

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SGX and ETC corporate responsibility obligations under the UN Guiding Principles (para 57; 62)

“Thus, to comply with this principle, ETC and SGX should avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities, or activities linked to their business relationship, regardless of the multiple links in the supply chain of their funding for Golden City.”

“If there is insufficient due diligence in a supply chain, then investment entities put themselves at risk of both criminal law and commercial liability, ranging from corruption to complicity.”

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