Finance Companies Act 1967

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 to license and control finance companies and for matters connected therewith.

[10 January 1968]

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act is the Finance Companies Act 1967.

Interpretation

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

“agreement” means an agreement whether formal or informal and whether express or implied;

“auditor” means any person approved by the Authority as a finance company auditor for the purposes of this Act;

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

“capital funds”, in relation to a finance company, means the paid‑up capital and published reserves of that company, deduction having been made in respect of any debit balance appearing in the profit and loss account of the company;

“chief executive”, in relation to a finance company, means any person, by whatever name described, who —

(a)	is in the direct employment of, or acting for or by arrangement with, the finance company; and
(b)	is principally responsible for the management and conduct of the business of the finance company;

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

“company” means a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act 1967 or pursuant to any corresponding previous written law;

“credit facilities” means —

(a)	the granting by a finance company of advances, loans and other facilities by which a customer of the finance company has access to funds or financial guarantees; or
(b)	the incurring by a finance company of other liabilities on behalf of a customer;

“deposit” means a loan of money at interest or repayable at a premium but does not include a loan to a company or other body corporate upon terms involving the issue of debentures or other securities;

“depositor” means a person entitled, or prospectively entitled, to repayment of a deposit whether made by the person or not;

“director” includes any person occupying the position of director of a finance company by whatever name called and includes a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a finance company are accustomed to act and an alternate or substitute director;

“executive officer”, in relation to a finance company, means any person, by whatever name described, who —

(a)	is in the direct employment of, or acting for or by arrangement with, the finance company; and
(b)	is concerned with or takes part in the management of the finance company on a day-to-day basis;

“finance company” means any company licensed under this Act to carry on financing business, and all branches and offices in Singapore of such a company are deemed to be one finance company for the purposes of this Act;

“financing business” means the business of —

(a)	borrowing money from the public, by acceptance of deposits and issuing certificates or other documents acknowledging or evidencing indebtedness to the public and undertaking to repay the money on call or after an agreed maturity period; and
(b)	lending money to the public or to a company deemed to be related to the finance company by virtue of section 6 of the Companies Act 1967 (called in this Act the related company) on the basis that the public or the related company undertakes to repay the money, whether within an agreed period of time or not, or by instalments,

and includes the business of financing hire-purchase transactions arising out of hire-purchase agreements, as defined in the Hire-Purchase Act 1969, where the money used, or to be used, for such business is borrowed from the public and such other business as the Authority may prescribe for the purposes of this Act;

“licence” means a licence granted under section 6;

“limited liability partnership” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;

“officer”, in relation to a corporation, includes —

(a)	a director, secretary or employee of the corporation;
(b)	a receiver or manager of any part of the undertaking of the corporation appointed under a power contained in any instrument; and
(c)	the liquidator of the corporation appointed in a voluntary winding up;

“partner” and “manager”, in relation to a limited liability partnership, have the respective meanings given by section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;

“person” includes a corporation;

“public company” means a company incorporated in Singapore other than a private company;

“published reserves”, in relation to a finance company, means reserves which appear in the accounts of the finance company but does not include any reserves which are represented by the writing down of the value of assets or by provision for the depreciation of fixed assets or which are maintained for any specific purposes;

“securities” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Securities and Futures Act 2001;

“securities-based derivatives contract” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Securities and Futures Act 2001;

“share”, in relation to a finance company, means a share in the share capital of the finance company and includes an interest in such a share;

“Singapore Government securities” means any debt securities issued by the Government under any written law;

“sub-fund”, in relation to an umbrella VCC, has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the VCC Act;

[S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022]

“umbrella VCC” and “VCC” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the VCC Act;

[S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022]

“unit” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Securities and Futures Act 2001;

[10/2013; 4/2017; 15/2021]

[S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022]

“VCC Act” means the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018.

[S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022]

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