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LEGAL UPDATES |
Legislation
Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill 2009 (B23/2009)
On 23 November 2009, the Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill 2009 (the “Bill”) was introduced in the Parliament.
The Bill seeks to amend the Moneylenders Act 2008 (the “Act”) to introduce, among other things, the following changes to enhance enforcement measures against unlicensed moneylenders:
1. Empower the Minister for Law to issue an order to freeze the dealing of any property or any funds in any bank account that has been identified as proceeds of unlicensed moneylending;
2. Empower the Public Prosecutor to order the inspection of documents of a bank which contain bank customer information if he considers that these documents contain any evidence of the commission of an offence of unlicensed moneylending or harassment or intimidation of any borrower or surety;
3. Impose stiff penalties including mandatory jail terms, hefty fines and caning on adults who use youngsters under 16 to run loan-sharking operations or harass debtors; and
4. Increase the penalties for the offence of unlicensed moneylending and harassment or intimidation of any borrower or surety.
In addition, the Bill also extends the scope of the Act so that a person who carries on, from a place outside Singapore, the business of moneylending in Singapore shall be treated as having carried on that business in Singaporeand, accordingly, subject to the Act and its sanctions.
Government Securities (Amendment) Bill 2009 (B25/2009)
Pursuant to the Government Securities (Amendment) Bill 2009 (the “Bill”), changes to the Government Securities Act are proposed for the following purposes:
1. Enable early redemption of Government securities. Pursuant to a new s 24A, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (the “MAS”) may, from time to time, by public notice invite the public to apply to redeem any
Government securities specified in the public notice before the date of maturity of those Government securities;
2. Expressly empower the MAS to regulate primary dealers who are in the business of applying on behalf of others to purchase Government securities pursuant to a public invitation or offering to redeem Government securities on behalf of another, or both. For this purpose, a new Part VIIA will be introduced to provide for various matters including the appointment of primary dealers by the MAS, the conditions of appointment, and the power of the MAS to inspect the books of a primary dealer; and
3. Confer explicit authority for the MAS to enter into securities lending arrangements involving the lending of Government securities to primary dealers. Lending Government securities will include an arrangement under which Government securities are sold and repurchased.
The Bill was introduced in Parliament on 23 November 2009.
Workplace Safety and Health (Safety and Health Management System and Auditing) Regulations 2009 (S607/2009)
The Workplace Safety and Health (Safety and Health Management System and Auditing) Regulations 2009 (the “Regulations”) have been gazetted and will come into operation on 1 March 2010.
The Regulations impose obligations on occupiers of workplaces including:
1. duty of occupier of specified workplaces to implement a safety and health management system;
2. duty of occupier of specified workplace to appoint a workplace safety and health auditor to audit the safety and health management system of the workplace; and
3. duty of occupier of specified workplaces to conduct an internal review of the safety and health management system of the workplace.
The following regulations have also been issued to provide for the relevant transitional provisions:
1. Workplace Safety and Health (Construction) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S608/2009).
2. Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2009 (S609/2009).
3. Workplace Safety and Health (Shipbuilding and Ship-Repairing) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S610/2009).
Elizabeth Wong
Allen & Gledhill LLP