Legislation

Stamp Duties (Amendment) Act 2005 (A6/2005)

The Stamp Duties (Amendment) Act 2005 (A6/2005) has been gazetted. The provisions will come into force on a date to be appointed.

The Stamp Duties Act (Cap 312) will be amended to provide for stamp duty issues in relation to LLPs. A definition of ‘limited liability partnership’ will be introduced. Section 15 will be amended to provide for relief from ad valorem stamp duty in the event of a conversion of a firm to a LLP under the proposed s 20 of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2004.

In addition, the following new provisions will be introduced:

•     a new s 31 which treats a notice of registration issued by the Registrar of Limited Liability Partnerships, upon a firm or private company converting to an LLP (under s 20/21 of the LLP Bill), as a conveyance, on sale from the firm or private company to the LLP, of the chargeable property vested in the LLP upon such conversion;

•     a new s 32 which determines when a change of LLP partners (resulting from either a person becoming a new partner or a partner leaving an LLP) would constitute a significant change of partners for the purposes of new sections 32A and 32B of the Stamp Duties Act;

•     a new s 32A which provides for certain matters relating to a transfer of an interest in an LLP, where there is a significant change of partners of the LLP; and

•     a new s 32B which provides for the reduction of ad valorem stamp duty where there is a conveyance between an LLP and a partner.

Appraisers and House Agents (Amendment) Act 2005 (A7/2005)

With effect from 1 April 2005, the Appraisers and House Agents Act (Cap 16) will be amended to remove the licensing requirement for appraisers of motor vehicles, cargo and marine surveys, plant and machinery as well as those categorised under ‘others’. The amendment is intended to reduce red tape and regulatory burdens on businesses.

Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2004 (A23/2004)

Effective from 1 April 2005, the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2004 amends the Legal Profession Act (Cap 161) primarily to make provisions for the new position of a ‘locum solicitor’ which the Act defines to mean an advocate and solicitor engaged (whether concurrently or otherwise) on a temporary or freelance basis by one or more law firms, law corporations or solicitors practising on their own account. Amongst other changes, new s 25(2A) is introduced to require solicitors intending to practise as locum solicitors to apply for a practising certificate to practise as a locum solicitor in accordance with rules relating to such practising certificates. The Act also prescribes the requirements, which have to be satisfied before a person can apply to practice as a locum solicitor.

Code of Practice for Competition in the Provision of Telecommunication Services 2005 (S87/2005)

The new Code of Practice for Competition in the Provision of Telecommunication Services 2005 (S87/2005) (‘2005 Code’) has been gazetted on 18 February 2005 and will be operative with effect from 4 March 2005.

The Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore (‘IDA’) issued the 2005 Code following two rounds of public consultation exercises in 2003 and 2004. The IDA started its first triennial review of the current Code of Practice for Competition in the Provision of Telecommunications Services (‘Code’) in October 2003.

Some of the key changes which will be introduced by the 2005 Code include the following:

•     The definition of a ‘dominant licensee’ will be revised to reflect operational control over telecom facilities that are sufficiently costly or difficult to replicate, or the ability to restrict output or raise prices above competitive levels.

•     Dominant licensees will have to publish on their websites, all prices for any telecom services approved by the IDA, not later than the date the prices are to take effect. The published information must include, at least, the prices, standard discount structures, services availability, eligibility requirements and termination clauses.

•     If a licensee intends to discontinue operation or a specific telecommunications service, it may give its end users the option to transition service to another licensee.

•     There will be modifications to the interconnection regime relating to, inter alia, the procedure for negotiating an individualised interconnection agreement.

•     New threshold notification requirements relating to change of ownership interests in a licensee

•     A proposed consolidation will be assessed on the basis of whether it would ‘substantially lessen competition’.

Apart from the above, the IDA is also releasing three sets of Advisory Guidelines relating to the procedures for dispute resolution which the IDA will use in enforcing the 2005 Code, procedures and standards that the IDA will use to assess proposed changes in ownership and consolidations; and procedures and standards that the IDA will use to assess proposed changes in ownership that may result by way of tender offers.

Elizabeth Wong

Allen & Gledhill