New Bills

Singapore Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Bill 2002 (B19/2002)

This Bill seeks to amend the Singapore Broadcasting Authority Act (Cap 297) primarily for the following purposes:

• to strengthen the provisions relating to shareholdings in, and the control and management of, broadcasting companies and their holding companies;
• to extend Part X of the Act (relating to ownership and control of broadcasting companies) to apply to broadcasting holding companies.
  

Section 20 will be amended principally to prohibit any person from providing any licensable broadcasting service in or from Singapore without a broadcasting licence granted under the section or a class licence granted under s 21.

Section 43 will be amended by providing for exemptions from Part X of the Act to be made by the Minister of Information and the Arts instead for the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (‘the Authority’), to extend the definition of ‘broadcasting company’ to include broadcasting holding companies, and to define the terms ‘appointed day’, ‘broadcasting holding company’ and ‘holding company’.

Further, s 44 will be amended to require broadcasting companies (including their holding companies) to apply for the Authority’s approval to appoint any person as chief executive officer, director or chairman of the board of directors, and to provide that any broadcasting company which contravenes the section commits an offence.

When passed into law, the Bill will repeal and re-enact s 45 and insert new ss 45A to 45H. The new provisions will have the following effect:

(a) replace the 3% shareholding limit based on beneficial ownership of shares with a limit based on substantial shareholding within the meaning of the Companies Act (Cap 50);

(b) introduce a new 12% limit on shareholding or control of voting power in broadcasting companies;

(c) require the Minister’s approval to be obtained before a person becomes a substantial shareholder, 12% controller or an indirect controller of a broadcasting company;

(d) prescribe the criteria which an applicant must satisfy to obtain the Minister’s approval;

(e) empower the Minister to serve a written notice of objection on an existing shareholder or controller, or a party to an existing agreement or arrangement to control the shareholding or voting power in a broadcasting company, in accordance with the prescribed procedure;

(f) empower the Minister to take certain actions to ensure compliance with the restrictions introduced;

(g) provide that non-compliance with certain provisions on ownership and control of broadcasting companies is an offence; and

(h) provide defences for persons who were not aware that they had contravened certain provisions, or who were not in a position to prevent such contravention, subject to their notifying the Minister of the contravention and compliance with the Minister’s directions.

Section 46(8) will be amended to increase the fine prescribed therein from a maximum of S$10,000 to a maximum of S$50,000. Section 46 will further be amended:

1. to empower the Minister to declare, by notification in the Gazette, certain specified bodies corporate, unincorporated associations or other bodies constituted under any law in Singapore as a ‘foreign source’ for the purposes of the section (which prohibits the receipt of funds from a foreign source for the purposes of financing any broadcasting service owned by the broadcasting company other than for commercial purposes); and
2. to make it clear that funds from a foreign source includes funds provided by a foreign source indirectly through any agent of the foreign source.
   

Section 47 will be re-enacted to empower the Authority to refuse to grant a relevant licence to a company, or to cancel the licence, if not less than 49% of the shares or voting power in the company or its holding company is held or controlled by one or more foreign sources, or if all or a majority of the officers of the company or its holding company are accustomed or under an obligation to act in accordance with the directions, instructions or wishes of any foreign source.

Newspaper and Printing Presses (Amendment) Bill 2002 (B20/2002)

This Bill seeks to amend the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (Cap 206) (‘NPPA’) primarily to strengthen the provisions relating to shareholdings in, and control of, newspaper companies.

Currently, s 10 of the NPPA imposes an obligation to obtain the approval of the Minister for Information and the Arts before a single shareholder may increase his shareholding in a newspaper company above the 3% threshold.

When passed into law, the Bill will repeal and re-enact s 10 and insert new ss 10A to 10H. The new sections will achieve the following:

(a) replace the 3% shareholding limit based on beneficial ownership of shares with a limit based on substantial shareholding within the meaning of the Companies Act (Cap 50);

(b) introduce a new 12% limit on shareholding or control of voting power in newspaper companies;

(c) require the Minister’s approval to be obtained before a person becomes a substantial shareholder, a 12% controller or an indirect controller of a newspaper company. It is worth noting that a shareholder who attains the 5% or 12% threshold, or is an indirect controller, before the proposed changes come into force cannot continue to be such a shareholder or controller unless he applies to the Minister within six months from the effective date of the Bill for approval to continue to be a substantial shareholder;

(d) prescribe the criteria which an applicant must satisfy to obtain the Minister’s approval;

(e) empower the Minister to serve a written notice of objection on an existing shareholder or controller, or a party to an existing agreement or arrangement to control the shareholding or voting power in a newspaper company, in accordance with the prescribed procedure;

(f) empower the Minister to take certain action to ensure compliance with the restrictions introduced;

(g) provide that non-compliance with certain provisions on ownership and control of newspaper companies is an offence; and

(h) provide defences for persons who were not aware that they had contravened certain provisions, or who were not in a position to prevent such contravention, subject to their notifying the Minister of the contravention and compliance with the Minister’s directions.

When the Bill comes into force as law, the penalties under the NPPA will be generally enhanced.

Elizabeth Wong
Allen and Gledhill