Prohibition relating to solicitation of insurance business
8.—(1)  Subject to subsection (5), a person must not solicit any insurance business for any insurer other than —
(a)a licensed insurer;
(b)an authorised reinsurer;
(c)a foreign insurer carrying on insurance business in Singapore under a foreign insurer scheme; or
(d)any other insurer entitled to carry on insurance business in Singapore.
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(2)  Subject to subsection (5), a person who solicits any insurance business for a licensed insurer or an insurer referred to in subsection (1)(d) —
(a)may only solicit in respect of the insurance business in Singapore of that insurer; and
(b)must not solicit in respect of the insurance business of —
(i)any branch located outside Singapore of that insurer; or
(ii)where that insurer is incorporated, formed or established outside Singapore, its head office.
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(3)  Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —
(a)in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $125,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $12,500 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction; or
(b)in any other case, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $25,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.
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(4)  A person whose business it is to publish or to arrange for the publication of advertisements shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (3) if the person proves that —
(a)the person received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of the person’s business;
(b)the matters contained in the advertisement were not, wholly or in part, devised or selected by the person or by any person under the person’s direction or control; and
(c)the person did not know and had no reason for believing that the publication of the advertisement would constitute an offence.
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(5)  Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to such persons or class of persons as the Authority may prescribe, subject to such terms or conditions as the Authority may prescribe.
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(6)  In this section, unless the context otherwise requires —
“advertisement” means the dissemination or conveyance of information, or invitation or solicitation by any means or in any form, including by means of —
(a)publication in a newspaper, magazine, journal or other periodical;
(b)display of posters or notices;
(c)circulars, handbills, brochures, pamphlets, books or other documents;
(d)letters addressed to individuals, bodies corporate or bodies unincorporate;
(e)photographs or cinematograph films; or
(f)sound broadcasting, television, the Internet or other media,
but does not include an advertisement issued outside Singapore that is made available —
(g)in a newspaper, magazine, journal or other periodical published and circulating principally outside Singapore;
(h)in a sound or television broadcast transmitted principally for reception outside Singapore; or
(i)by any other means of broadcasting or communication principally for circulation or reception outside Singapore;
“solicit”, in relation to insurance business —
(a)means, whether in Singapore or elsewhere, offering to, inviting, or issuing any advertisement containing any offer or invitation to, the public or any section of the public in Singapore to enter into a contract of insurance; and
(b)the reference to an advertisement in paragraph (a) includes an advertisement containing information which is, or might reasonably be presumed to be, intended to lead, directly or indirectly, to the entering into of a contract of insurance.
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(7)  For the purposes of this section, in determining whether an offer, invitation or advertisement is made or issued to the public or any section of the public in Singapore, regard must be had to such considerations as the Authority may prescribe.
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