PART IV | Certain offences seizable and non-bailable |
| 31. Every offence under section 14 or 28 shall be deemed to be a seizable and non-bailable offence within the meaning of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68). |
| 32.—(1) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68), a District Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and shall have power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of the offence. [5/2010] | (2) Where any act constituting an offence, or part of an offence, under section 14 or 28 is committed outside Singapore by a person, he may be dealt with in respect of that offence as if the act had been committed within Singapore. [5/2010] |
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| 32A.—(1) Whenever 2 or more persons are charged with an offence under section 14 or 28, whenever committed, or with a conspiracy to commit, or an attempt to commit, or an abetment of such an offence, the court may require one or more of them to give evidence as a witness or witnesses for the prosecution. [5/2010] | (2) Any such person who refuses to be sworn or to answer any lawful question shall be dealt with in the same manner as witnesses so refusing may by law be dealt with by a Magistrate’s Court or District Court, as the case may be. [5/2010] |
| (3) Every person so required to give evidence, who in the opinion of the court makes true and full discovery of all things as to which he is lawfully examined, shall be entitled to receive a certificate of indemnity under the hand of the Magistrate or District Judge, as the case may be, stating that he has made a true and full discovery of all things as to which he was examined, and that certificate shall be a bar to all legal proceedings against him in respect of all those things. [5/2010] |
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| Offences by bodies corporate, etc. |
33.—(1) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved —| (a) | to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer; or | | (b) | to be attributable to any neglect on his part, |
| the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. |
| (2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate. |
(3) Where an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is proved —| (a) | to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner; or | | (b) | to be attributable to any neglect on his part, |
| the partner as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. |
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(4) Where an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved —| (a) | to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body; or | | (b) | to be attributable to any neglect on the part of such officer or member, |
| the officer or member as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. |
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(5) In this section —“officer” —| (a) | in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or | | (b) | in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; |
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| “partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner. |
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| (6) The Minister may make rules to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore. |
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34.—(1) The Registrar, or the Commissioner of Police or any police officer authorised in writing by the Commissioner of Police, may, in his discretion, compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed as an offence which may be compounded by the Registrar, the Commissioner of Police or such police officer by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding —| (a) | one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; or | | (b) | $5,000, |
| (2) On payment of such sum of money, no further proceedings shall be taken against that person in respect of the offence. |
| (3) The Minister may make rules to prescribe the offences which may be compounded under this section and the conditions subject to which, and the manner in which, such offences may be compounded. |
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35.—(1) The Minister may, upon the application of any person and the payment of such fees as may be prescribed, issue a certificate to exempt, with or without conditions, any person from all or any of the provisions of this Act.(2) Every exemption under subsection (1) —| (a) | may in the first instance be valid for a period of 3 years or less from the date of the granting thereof; | | (b) | may, upon payment of the prescribed fee, be extended thereafter, with or without additional conditions, for further periods not exceeding 3 years at a time; and | | (c) | need not be published in the Gazette. |
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| (3) Any person who desires to apply for or extend an exemption shall submit an application to the Registrar in such form and manner, and shall furnish the Registrar with such information, as the Registrar may require. |
(4) Any person who has been granted an exemption under this section and desires to apply to the Minister to vary or revoke any of the existing conditions of his exemption shall —| (a) | submit an application to the Registrar in such form and manner, and furnish the Registrar with such information, as the Registrar may require; and | | (b) | pay such fee as may be prescribed for the making of the application. |
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| (5) The Minister may prescribe different fees in respect of different classes or descriptions of persons for the purposes of this section. |
| (6) An application for the extension of an exemption shall be made not later than one month before the expiry of the exemption. |
| (7) Any moneylender who makes an application for the extension of an exemption after the time limited under subsection (6) shall pay a late extension fee not exceeding $50 for every day or part thereof that the application for extension is late, subject to a maximum of $1,500. |
| (8) The Minister may at any time revoke, whether wholly or in part, any exemption granted to a person under subsection (1) by giving the person a notice of revocation in writing. |
(9) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (8), the Minister may at any time revoke, whether wholly or in part, any exemption —| (a) | for the contravention of any condition of the exemption or any provision of this Act; or | | (b) | if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so. |
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| (10) Any revocation, whether wholly or in part, of an exemption or a condition of exemption under this section, and any amendment of a condition of exemption under this section, shall not affect any moneylending transaction entered into before the date of the revocation or amendment, as the case may be. |
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36.—(1) The Minister may make rules to exempt any class of persons from any, but not all, of the provisions of this Act, subject to such terms or conditions as may be prescribed.| (2) Any revocation, whether wholly or in part, of an exemption or a condition of exemption under this section, and any amendment of a condition of exemption under this section, shall not affect any moneylending transaction entered into before the date of the revocation or amendment, as the case may be. |
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37.—(1) The Minister may make rules for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Minister may make rules —| (a) | to prescribe the maximum amount which may be lent to a borrower or any class or description of borrowers; | | (b) | to prescribe the class or description of borrowers to which a moneylender may grant a loan, or a loan above a specified amount, either generally or in specified circumstances; | | (c) | to regulate the use of advertisements by or on behalf of any moneylender, or any solicitation or canvassing for business by or on behalf of any moneylender; | | (d) | to prescribe the types of activities and services that a moneylender may not engage in or provide; | | (e) | to specify the places where a moneylender may conduct the business of moneylending; | | (f) | to require a moneylender to keep particular accounts or records relating to loans; | | (g) | to prescribe the manner in which accounts and records are to be kept and the particulars to be entered therein; | | (h) | to regulate the conduct of the business of moneylending, or specific types of moneylending activities or services; | | (i) | to provide for the detection and prevention of money laundering or the financing of terrorism, or for the reporting of transactions suspected of involving money laundering or terrorism financing; | | (j) | to discharge or facilitate the discharge of any obligation binding on Singapore by virtue of a decision of the Security Council of the United Nations; | | (k) | to prescribe the forms for the purposes of this Act; | | (l) | to prescribe the fees to be paid in respect of any matter required for the purposes of this Act and the refund and remission, whether wholly or in part, of such fees; and | | (m) | to prescribe all matters and things which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or expedient to be prescribed to give effect to this Act. |
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(3) Rules made under this section may —| (a) | relate to any moneylender, whether he is a licensee or he is exempted from any or all of the provisions of this Act; | | (b) | relate to all or any class or description of moneylenders; and | | (c) | make different provisions for different classes or descriptions of moneylenders. |
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(4) Rules made under this section may provide that a contravention of any specified provision thereof shall be an offence, and —| (a) | in respect of the rules referred to in subsection (2)(i) or (j), may provide for penalties not exceeding a fine of $100,000; and | | (b) | in respect of any other rules, may provide —| (i) | in a case where the offender is an individual, for penalties not exceeding a fine of $20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both for each offence; or | | (ii) | in any other case, for penalties not exceeding a fine of $50,000 for each offence. |
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| Transitional and savings provisions |
38.—(1) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Moneylenders Act, as from 1st March 2009 —| (a) | every licence granted under the repealed Moneylenders Act (Cap. 188, 1985 Ed.) and which continues to be valid immediately before that date shall be deemed to be a licence issued under this Act in respect of the activities authorised by the first-mentioned licence for the remaining period of the licence and shall subsist until its expiry, and may be renewed, revoked, suspended or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act; | | (b) | every exemption granted under the repealed Moneylenders Act (Cap. 188, 1985 Ed.) and subsisting immediately before that date shall, except to the extent that the person exempted qualifies to be an excluded moneylender, be deemed to be an exemption granted under this Act and shall subsist until its expiry, and may be extended, revoked or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and | | (c) | every pending application for any licence, exemption, consent or approval under the repealed Moneylenders Act shall be deemed to be an application therefor under this Act, except that the fees payable for such an application or for the grant of the licence, exemption, consent or approval sought shall be those prescribed under the repealed Moneylenders Act. |
(2) Where any person —| (a) | is granted an exemption under the repealed Moneylenders Act which subsists immediately before 1st March 2009; and | | (b) | qualifies to be an excluded moneylender in relation to the activities or services for which the exemption is granted, |
| the Registrar may, in his discretion, refund such amount of the fees paid by the person in respect of such exemption as is proportionate to the period (being a period of not less than 6 months) for which, but for such person becoming an excluded moneylender, the exemption would continue to subsist. |
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| (3) Any notice, order, decision, direction, requisition or approval made or granted by the Registrar or the Minister under the repealed Moneylenders Act in force immediately before 1st March 2009 shall continue and be deemed to have been made or granted by the Registrar or the Minister, respectively, under this Act and shall have effect accordingly. |
| (4) All acts done by or on behalf of the Registrar or the Minister under the repealed Moneylenders Act before 1st March 2009 shall continue to remain valid and have effect as though done by or on behalf of the Registrar or the Minister, respectively, under this Act until such time as such acts are invalidated, revoked, cancelled or otherwise determined by the Registrar or the Minister, as the case may be. |
| (5) Subject to subsection (1)(c), where anything has been commenced by or on behalf of the Registrar or the Minister before 1st March 2009, such thing may be carried on and completed by or on behalf of the Registrar or the Minister, respectively, under the authority of this Act. |
| (6) Any subsidiary legislation made under the repealed Moneylenders Act (Cap. 188, 1985 Ed.) and in force immediately before 1st March 2009 shall, so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, continue in force as if made under this Act until it is revoked. |
| (7) Any written law or document referring to the repealed Moneylenders Act or any provision thereof shall, as far as may be necessary for preserving its effect, be construed as referring or as including a reference to this Act or the corresponding provision in this Act, as the case may be. |
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