Singapore's central bank announced tweaks to its proposed reforms of the real estate investment trust (REIT) market, including changes to the leverage cap and more transparency to protect investors.

Singapore's REIT sector is the biggest in Asia outside of Japan, with 34 trusts listed and a combined market value of about $50 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.

After consulting the industry, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it would scrap a 60 percent leverage limit for REITs with a credit rating. They would be subject to the same limit as other REITs, but MAS said it would increase the leverage limit for all REITs to 45 percent of its total assets, from 35 percent currently.

It also increased the limit on property development activities to 25 percent of a REIT's assets, from 10 percent, to allow more operational flexibility.

MAS will require REIT managers to disclose the justification for each type of fee charged, as well as the methodology for computing performance fees and justification of how the methodology takes into account unitholders' long-term interests.

It did not announce when the reforms would be implemented, but said they would be phased in to facilitate smooth implementation by the industry.

It also called for REITs to strengthen corporate governance. Managers and directors should be bound by a statutory duty to prioritise investors' interest; at least half of board members must be independent directors if unit holders do not have the right to appoint directors; and managers will be required to disclose their remuneration policy and procedures in annual reports, MAS said.

The biggest Singapore-listed trusts include CapitaLand Mall Trust, Ascendas REIT and CapitaLand Commercial Trust.

There have been concerns that REIT managers' pay may encourage them to take actions contrary to the interests of investors, such as buying more property to raise the trust's market value but potentially lower the yield investors receive.

The FT ST REITs index has edged down 0.4 percent this year, compared with a 1.1 percent decline in Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index.