New SMU initiative to study law and finance links in capital markets

The launch comes as IPOs raised over $2b in 2025.

Singapore Management University (SMU) has launched a new research initiative to study capital markets and their links to law, finance, regulation, and emerging technologies.

The Singapore Capital Markets Initiative will support research, policy dialogue, and talent development in law and finance, with an emphasis on the country and Asia.

It will cover equity and debt capital markets, venture capital and private equity, private credit and alternative finance, corporate governance and investor protection, financial regulation, and market infrastructure.

It will also study how emerging technologies are affecting capital markets.

The launch comes as initial public offerings in the market raised over $2b in 2025, according to SMU Chairman Piyush Gupta.

“Net institutional inflows recorded for nine consecutive months following the first set of measures, and turnover in small and mid-cap companies rising sharply,” Gupta said in his opening address at the OECD-SMU-ECGI Conference on 7 July.

The initiative will be led by Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez, together with Dan Puchniak and Nydia Remolina.

Gurrea-Martínez said capital markets are playing a role in financing innovation and economic growth, particularly as Asia accounts for more than 55% of the world’s listed companies and more than half of global venture capital activity.

The Singapore Capital Markets Initiative sits under the Centre for Commercial Law in Asia at the SMU Yong Pung How School of Law.

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