New Bills

Enlistment (Amendment) Bill 2001 (B4/2001)

This Bill seeks to amend the Enlistment Act for the following main purposes:

1. to allow certain employers of persons required to perform service under the Enlistment Act to pay such persons their civilian remuneration and to claim the amount payable from the designated authority;
2. to provide for the appointment of enlistment inspectors and to provide for certain powers of investigation of police officers and enlistment inspectors; and
3. to empower the Authority to compound offences under the Act and any regulations made thereunder which are prescribed as compoundable offences and to empower the Minister for Law to make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded and the method and procedure by which the offences may be compounded.

Local Treasury Bills (Amendment) Bill 2001 (B5/2001)

This Bill seeks to amend the Local Treasury Bills Act to reduce the denomination of Treasury Bills from a sum of $10,000 or a multiple of $10,000 to a sum of $1,000 or a multiple of $1,000. This amendment will not invalidate any Treasury Bill of higher denomination issued before the date of commencement of the Local Treasury Bills (Amendment) Act 2001.

Public Utilities Bill 2001 (B7/2001)

This Bill seeks to repeal and re-enact the Public Utilities Act in order to integrate the Sewerage and Drainage Departments of the Ministry of the Environment as part of the Public Utilities Board, restructure the Board as the Water Authority and divest its role as the regulator of the electricity and piped gas industries to another statutory authority. The Bill retains with modifications the provisions of the Public Utilities Act relating to the functions, duties and powers of the Board, the water undertaking of the Board and water service workers.

Energy Market Authority of Singapore Bill 2001 (B8/2001)

This Bill seeks to establish and incorporate a new public corporation called the Energy Market Authority of Singapore ('the Authority') to carry out regulatory functions relating to energy utilities. In particular, the Bill seeks to provide for the transfer of the property, rights and liabilities of the Regulation Department of the Public Utilities Board to the Authority. The Bill also contains provisions relating to the transfer of employees in the Regulation Department and other employees of the Public Utilities Board to the Authority, the protection of their terms and conditions of service or transfer, and certain other consequential and transitional matters.

Electricity Bill 2001 (B9/2001)

This Bill seeks to make provision for a competitive market framework for the electricity industry, and for the safety, technical and economic regulation of the generation, transmission, supply and use of electricity, and for other matters connected therewith, and to repeal the Electrical Workers and Contractors Licensing Act. The Energy Market Authority of Singapore is to administer the Bill and exercise the functions and duties imposed on the Authority by the Bill.

The Bill includes provisions on the following areas:

1. licensing of activities relating to electricity;
2. control of electricity licensees;
3. wholesale electricity market;
4. competition;
5. electricity and supply installations, cable detection work and electrical workers; and
6. offences.

Gas Bill 2001 (B10/2001)

This Bill seeks to make provision for a competitive market framework for the gas industry and the safety, technical and economic regulation of the transportation and retail of gas. The provisions of the Bill will be administered by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore.

The Bill includes provisions on the following areas:

1. licensing of activities relating to gas;
2. modification and enforcement of gas licences;
3. gas transporters;
4. gas retailers and general provisions;
5. codes of practice;
6. safety;
7. competition; and
8. the Appeal Panel.

District Cooling Bill 2001 (B11/2001)

This Bill seeks to regulate and license the operation and provision of district cooling services to designated service areas. 'District cooling service' refers to the sale of coolant for space cooling in a service area by a licensee operating a central plant capable of supplying coolant via pipe to more than one building in the service area.

Children Development Co-Savings Bill 2001 (B13/2001)

The Bill provides for regulations to be made to establish a scheme for the following purposes:

1. to assist families so as to encourage married women to have two or more children; and
2. to provide financial assistance for the development of the children of these families through a co-savings scheme whereby the Government will make contributions to an eligible child's bank account equal to the contributions made by any parent of the eligible child.

In particular, the Bill provides for maternity leave in relation to a third child. When the Bill is passed into law, every female employee shall be entitled to absent herself from work:

1. during the period of four weeks immediately before and the period of four weeks immediately after her confinement; or
2. during the period of eight weeks, as agreed to by her and her employer, commencing not earlier than 28 days immediately preceding the day of her confinement or later than that day,

and for such period (the 'benefit period') she shall be entitled to receive payment from her employer at her gross rate of pay.

An 'employee' means any person who has entered into or works under a contract of service with an employer in Singapore, and includes a workman and any officer or employee of the Government included in a category, class or description of such officers or employees declared by the Minister for Law to be employees for the purposes of this Act.

Similarly, a self-employed woman shall be entitled to claim from the Government the income she would have otherwise derived from her trade, business, profession or vocation had she continued to be actively engaged in such trade, business, profession or vocation during the confinement period.

No woman shall be entitled to the aforesaid benefits, unless the following conditions are satisfied:

1. the child who is the subject of her confinement:
   • is a citizen of Singapore at the time of his birth;
   • is born alive on or after 1 April 2001; and
   • is the third child born alive to her;
2. she is lawfully married to the child's natural father at the time the child is conceived, or becomes lawfully married to the child's natural father after the child is conceived but before the child's birth, whether or not such marriage remains subsisting at the time of the child's birth;
3. in the case of a female employee, she has served the employer for not less than 180 days immediately preceding the day of her confinement; and
4. in the case of a self-employed woman, she has been carrying on her trade, business, profession or vocation for a continuous period of not less than 180 days immediately preceding the day of her confinement.

The amount which may be claimed shall not exceed $20,000, which amount shall be inclusive of any contribution to the Central Provident Fund which an employer, a female employee or self-employed woman is liable to make under the Central Provident Fund Act.

The Bill also seeks to provide that every employer who makes any payment to a female employee as aforesaid shall be entitled to claim reimbursement of the payment and any contribution which he is liable to make in respect of such payment under the Central Provident Fund Act from the Government.

Control of Rent (Abolition) Bill 2001 (B16/2001)

This Bill seeks to repeal the Control of Rent Act an the Premiums on Leases Act with effect from 1 April 2001, to repeal the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act subsequently, and to provide for consequential matters related thereto.

The Bill provides for the following transitional provisions when the Control of Rent Act is repealed:

1. no proceedings for any offence under s 5 of the repealed Control of Rent Act (relating to the charging of excess rent or premium in respect of certain tenancies) shall be taken without the prior consent of the Public Prosecutor (in place of the former Rent Conciliation Board established under section 8 of the repealed Control of Rent Act);
2. any pending application, proceeding, hearing or matter before the former Rent Conciliation Board shall be discontinued as from 1 April 2001;
3. any pending application, proceeding, hearing or matter before the High Court under section 12 (on a question of law referred by the Rent Conciliation Board to the High Court for consideration) and section 13 (for a review of decision of the Board) of the repealed Control of Rent Act shall be discontinued as from 1 April 2001. The High Court may award costs relating to the application, proceeding, hearing or matter. However, no member of the former Rent Conciliation Board shall be personally liable for any such costs;
4. any pending application, proceeding, hearing or matter before any court for the recovery of possession of premises under Part III of the repealed Control of Rent Act shall be discontinued as from 1 April 2001. However, the court may award costs relating to the application, proceeding, hearing or matter which is discontinued; and
5. any person who before 1 April 2001 was a statutory tenant shall continue to hold the premises upon the same terms and conditions as specified in section 28(a) and 28(c) of the repealed Control of Rent Act. However, either the landlord or the former statutory tenant may determine the tenancy by giving such notice as would be required by law to determine a monthly tenancy of the premises containing no express provision for determination. The effect is that the former statutory tenant will no longer have security of tenure over the tenancy.

The Bill also seeks to make amendments to the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act. The amendments are to take effect upon the repeal of the Control of Rent Act pending the final repeal of the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act (which will be at a later date). The Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act will be amended as follows:

1. to make clear that no application may be made for the recovery of controlled premises on or after 1 April 2001 and that any application, proceeding, hearing or matter before the Tenants' Compensation Board under section 4(1) and 4(3) which has not been determined by the Board before 1 April 2001 shall be discontinued from that date. The effect is that no order for the recovery of controlled premises may be granted by the Board on or after 1 April 2001. However, the provisions relating to the assessment and award of compensation in respect of an order for the recovery of possession of controlled premises made by the Board before 1 April 2001 are not affected;
2. that all moneys deposited with the Tenants' Compensation Board to meet any award of compensation under the repealed Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act and which are in the possession of that Board immediately before the date of repeal of the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act are to be transferred to the Urban Redevelopment Authority; and
3. that any person claiming to be entitled to payment of the money or any part thereof may, within 12 months from the date of repeal of the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act, submit his claim to the Urban Redevelopment Authority which may, if satisfied that he is lawfully entitled to the money or any part thereof, pay the money or part thereof to that person.

Changes to Subsidiary Legislation

Income Tax (Singapore-Cyprus) (Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement) Order 2001 (S67/2001)

An Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income has been signed between the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. This Agreement is the 44th comprehensive tax treaty that Singapore has signed.

The Agreement serves to prevent double taxation of income earned in one country by a resident of the other. It also makes clear the taxing rights between Singapore and Cyprus on all forms of income from cross-border economic activities between the two countries. There are also provisions for reduction or exemption of tax on certain types of income. These provisions will facilitate the flow of trade, investment, financial activities and technical know-how between the two countries.

Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (United States of America) Order 2001 (S69/2001)

With effect from 12 February 2001, the United States of America has been declared a prescribed foreign country for the purposes of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act. Assistance under the Act may only be provided to the United States of America for a criminal matter in respect of an offence against the corresponding drug law of the United States of America.

Companies Act (Amendment of Fifth Schedule) Notification 2001 (S99/2001)

The Fifth Schedule to the Companies Act has been amended with effect from 22 February 2001. The Fifth Schedule relates to the form and content of prospectuses.

Paragraph 20 of the Fifth Schedule requires a report by an approved company auditor with respect to the accounts of the company to be set out in the prospectus. If no accounts have been made up in respect of any part of the period of five years ending on a date three months before the issue of the prospectus, the prospectus must contain a statement of that fact. Following the amendments, the reference to five years has been shortened to three years.

The prospectus requirements need not be complied with in some situations, one of which is where an offer is made under s 106F of the Companies Act, provided a statement of material facts is lodged. Part VI of the Fifth Schedule prescribes the form and content of a statement of material facts. The statement must state the general development of the business of the company within the preceding five years. Following the amendments, the reference to five years has been shortened to three years.

The Fifth Schedule has also been amended generally by replacing all references to '5 financial years' with references to '3 financial years'.

Legal Profession (Solicitors' Remuneration) (Amendment) Order 2001 (S105/2001)

With effect from 1 March 2001, the First Schedule to the Legal Profession (Solicitors' Remuneration) Order has been amended such that the charges in respect of sales, purchases and mortgages of real property shall be as follows:

The costs on the excess over $2,500,000 on all transactions shall be negotiable.

In respect of any business for which instructions have been accepted before 1 March 2001, the Legal Profession (Solicitors' Remuneration) Order in force immediately before that date shall continue to apply as if this Order had not been made.

Elizabeth Wong
Allen & Gledhill