SINGAPORE, Oct 18 — Singapore Exchange Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest bourse, will end restrictions imposed on Blumont Group Ltd., Asiasons Capital Ltd. and LionGold Corp. after trading in the stocks stabilised.

The exchange said October 6 that shares of the three companies had been declared designated securities, prohibiting investors from selling them unless they hold the same quantity of stock. Those restrictions will be lifted from 8:30am Singapore time on October 21, SGX said in a statement today.

“We’re lifting the designation status as trading has become more stable,” Kelvin Koh, head of market surveillance at SGX, said at a media briefing today.

Regulators around the world have stepped up oversight of capital markets after the global financial crisis in 2008 and evaluated safeguards since the May 2010 plunge known as the flash crash briefly erased about US$862 billion (RM2.7 trillion) from the value of US equities. SGX plans to add circuit breakers by early next year after the fall in shares of the three commodity companies erased US$6.9 billion in market value over three days.

“The designation of the stocks and its ending are done in the interest of the investing public and the market,” the exchange said today. “SGX will continue to monitor closely the trading activities in the marketplace.”

Asiasons tumbled 96 per cent over the three trading days through October 8 while LionGold plunged 87 per cent over the three-day period. Blumont, which invests in minerals and energy, slumped 94 per cent over two trading days on October 4 and October 7.

Blumont’s designated chairman Alexander Molyneux said in an e-mailed comment the company can now focus on growing its minerals and energy unit with the end of the trading restrictions. — Bloomberg