Moneylenders Act 2008

2020 REVISED EDITION

This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021

An Act for the regulation of moneylending, the designation and control of a credit bureau, the collection, use and disclosure of borrower information and data, and for connected matters.

[7/2018]

[1 March 2009: Except section 5(3)(b) ;

1 July 2010: Section 5(3)(b) ]

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. This Act is the Moneylenders Act 2008.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“assistant”, in relation to an applicant for a licence or a licensee —

(a)	means any person employed or engaged, or proposed to be employed or engaged, by the applicant or the licensee for the purposes of the applicant’s or the licensee’s business of moneylending, other than to manage the applicant’s or the licensee’s business of moneylending; and
(b)	includes a person who is employed or engaged, or proposed to be employed or engaged, by the applicant or licensee to collect any debt on behalf of the applicant or licensee;

“Authority” means the Monetary Authority of Singapore established under section 3 of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act 1970;

“bank” means —

(a)	a bank licensed under the Banking Act 1970; or
(b)	a merchant bank licensed under the Banking Act 1970,

and includes a finance company licensed under the Finance Companies Act 1967;

“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership;

“book” includes any account, deed, writing or document and any other record of information, however compiled, recorded or stored, whether in written or printed form or on microfilm or by electronic process or otherwise;

“business name”, in relation to a moneylender, means the name under which the moneylender is authorised by a licence to carry on the business of moneylending;

“business trust” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Business Trusts Act 2004;

“company” means a company limited by shares under the Companies Act 1967;

“corporation” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;

“director” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;

“excluded moneylender” means —

(a)

any body corporate, incorporated or empowered by an Act of Parliament to lend money in accordance with that Act;

(b)

any person licensed, approved, registered or otherwise regulated by the Authority under any other written law, to the extent that the person is permitted or authorised to lend money or is not prohibited from lending money under that other written law;

(c)

any society registered as a credit society under the Co‑operative Societies Act 1979;

(d)

any pawnbroker licensed under the Pawnbrokers Act 2015;

(e)

any person who —

(i)

lends money solely to the person’s employees as a benefit of employment;

(ii)

lends money solely to accredited investors within the meaning of section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act 2001;

(iii)

lends money solely to —

(A)	corporations;
(B)	limited liability partnerships;
(C)	trustees or trustee-managers (as the case may be) of business trusts for the purposes of the business trusts;
(D)	trustees of real estate investment trusts for the purposes of the real estate investment trusts,

or who carries on any combination of such activities or services; or

(f)

any person carrying on any business not having for its primary object the lending of money in the course of which and for the purposes of which the person lends money;

“exempt moneylender” means any moneylender who has been granted an exemption under section 91 or 92 from holding a licence;

“interest”, in relation to a loan, means any amount by any name called, in excess of the principal paid or payable to a moneylender in consideration of or otherwise in respect of the loan, but does not include any permitted fee, stamp duty or other fee payable under this Act or any other written law;

“licence” means a moneylender’s licence issued or renewed under this Act, and “licensee” is to be construed accordingly;

“limited liability partnership” has the meaning given by the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;

“moneylender” means a person who, whether as principal or agent, carries on or holds himself, herself or itself out in any way as carrying on the business of moneylending, whether or not the person carries on any other business, but does not include any excluded moneylender;

“permitted fee”, in relation to a loan, means the costs, charges or expenses prescribed under section 35(1) that may be imposed on the borrower under the contract for the loan;

“principal”, in relation to a loan, means the amount actually lent by a moneylender under the contract for the loan;

“real estate investment trust” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Securities and Futures Act 2001;

“Registrar” means the Registrar of Moneylenders appointed under section 4 and includes a Deputy Registrar of Moneylenders and an Assistant Registrar of Moneylenders appointed under that section;

“substantial shareholder” and “substantial shareholding” have the meanings given by Division 4 of Part 4 of the Companies Act 1967;

“unlicensed moneylender” means a person —

(a)	who is presumed to be a moneylender under section 3; and
(b)	who is not a licensee or an exempt moneylender. [2/2015; 4/2017; 7/2018; 1/2020]

Persons presumed to be moneylenders

3. Any person, other than an excluded moneylender, who lends a sum of money in consideration of a larger sum being repaid is presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be a moneylender.

Appointment of Registrar, etc.

4. The Minister may appoint any public officer to be the Registrar of Moneylenders and any number of public officers that the Minister thinks fit to be Deputy Registrars of Moneylenders and Assistant Registrars of Moneylenders under this Act.

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