Singapore Exchange CEO Loh Boon Chye Starts Succession Planning but Sets No Departure Date

25 OCT 2026 — Loh Boon Chye, chief executive of Singapore Exchange (SGX) since 2015, has asked the company to start planning for the day he hands over the job. At the exchange's 27th annual general meeting on Friday, 23 October, he told shareholders he had raised the matter with chairman Koh Boon Hwee and that his contract runs until mid-July 2027. No departure date was set and no successor was named.

What Loh told shareholders

The remarks came at the close of the meeting, held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, and SGX filed the full text to the market shortly after noon. In the statement, Loh said: "I recently shared with our Chairman that we should begin planning ahead for an eventual transition in the CEO role."

He tied the move to good times. The exchange, he said, has a clear strategy, strong momentum and a capable leadership team, and he would work with the chairman and the board on the timing and arrangements of a handover. On the date he was explicit: "We are not setting a specific date for the transition today," he said.

The statement also did not read like a farewell. "My ambitions for SGX are greater than ever," Loh said. He wants the exchange to accelerate its growth and expand its global reach, and said that is "what I intend to drive forward".

What the exchange has not said

The filing names no candidates, internal or external, and sets out no search process or timetable. SGX has not said whether Loh will stay to the end of his contract, leave earlier, or be offered another term. Loh also sits on the board as an executive, non-independent director, Reuters noted in its report on the meeting.

SGX shares were down 0.5% at S$20.73 at 0501 GMT, according to Reuters. Glenn Yin, director of research at trading platform ACCM, told the wire: "Uncertainty could weigh on sentiment if the process drags on, but a clear handover plan and a credible appointment should help keep investors focused on the business."

A record year behind the timing

Loh is starting the conversation on the back of the best results in the exchange's history. SGX reported on 6 August that net revenue for the year to 30 June rose 13.9% to S$1,478.3 million, and that adjusted net profit climbed 24.6% to S$759.5 million. The exchange called its revenue and net profit all-time highs. Statutory net profit was S$698.4 million. The board proposed total dividends of 57.0 cents a share for FY2026, against 37.5 cents a year earlier. That total includes a special payout of 12.5 cents, which Loh tied to gains from capital recycling.

Bloomberg, in its account of the meeting, said annual net profit had doubled under Loh, and that derivatives together with fixed income, currencies and commodities now generate more than 60% of revenue. Loh ran Asia Pacific global markets at Bank of America before he joined, the agency said.

The equities problem a successor inherits

The stock market is the weak spot. Bloomberg pointed out that Singapore has lost more companies to delisting than it has gained through new listings in every one of the past ten years and more, and put the number of listed companies at 604 as of August, with a combined value of S$1.2 trillion. The government has been trying to revive the market. Reuters cited the 20% tax rebate introduced last year for primary listings and a framework for dual listings on SGX and Nasdaq.

Loh's own statement leaned on the turnaround, saying the stock market "has renewed momentum". Whether that holds will be the test for whoever follows him.