Cesser of business in Singapore
377.—(1)  If a foreign company ceases to have a place of business or to carry on business in Singapore, it shall, within 7 days after so ceasing, lodge with the Registrar notice of that fact, and as from the day on which the notice is so lodged its obligation to lodge any document (not being a document that ought to have been lodged before that day) with the Registrar shall cease, and the Registrar shall upon the expiration of 12 months after the lodging of the notice remove the name of that foreign company from the register.
(2)  If a foreign company goes into liquidation or is dissolved in its place of incorporation or origin —
(a)each person who immediately prior to the commencement of the liquidation proceedings was an agent shall, within one month after the commencement of the liquidation or the dissolution or within such further time as the Registrar in special circumstances allows, lodge or cause to be lodged with the Registrar notice of that fact and, when a liquidator is appointed, notice of such appointment; and
(b)the liquidator shall, until a liquidator for Singapore is duly appointed by the Court, have the powers and functions of a liquidator for Singapore.
(3)  A liquidator of a foreign company appointed for Singapore by the Court or a person exercising the powers and functions of such a liquidator —
(a)shall, before any distribution of the foreign company’s assets is made, by advertisement in a newspaper circulating generally in each country where the foreign company had been carrying on business prior to the liquidation if no liquidator has been appointed for that place, invite all creditors to make their claims against the foreign company within a reasonable time prior to the distribution;
(b)subject to subsection (7), shall not, without obtaining an order of the Court, pay out any creditor to the exclusion of any other creditor of the foreign company; and
(c)shall, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, only recover and realise the assets of the foreign company in Singapore and shall, subject to paragraph (b) and subsection (7), pay the net amount so recovered and realised to the liquidator of that foreign company for the place where it was formed or incorporated after paying any debts and satisfying any liabilities incurred in Singapore by the foreign company.
(4)  Where a foreign company has been wound up so far as its assets in Singapore are concerned and there is no liquidator for the place of its incorporation or origin, the liquidator may apply to the Court for directions as to the disposal of the net amount recovered in pursuance of subsection (3).
(5)  On receipt of a notice from an agent that the company has been dissolved, the Registrar shall remove the name of the company from the register.
(6)  Where the Registrar has reasonable cause to believe that a foreign company has ceased to carry on business or to have a place of business in Singapore, the provisions of this Act relating to the striking off the register of the names of defunct companies shall with such adaptations as are necessary extend and apply accordingly.
(7)  Section 328 shall apply to a foreign company wound up or dissolved pursuant to this section as if for references to a company there were substituted references to a foreign company.
(8)  Where the Registrar is satisfied that a foreign company is being used for an unlawful purpose or for purposes prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore or against the national security or interest, he shall strike the name of the foreign company off the register and it shall thereupon cease to be registered as a foreign company under this Division.
[15/84]
(9)  Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Registrar under subsection (8) may, within 30 days of the date of the decision, appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final.
[15/84]
[UK, 1948, s. 413 (2); Aust., 1961, s. 352]