Approval of transfer of business of relevant financial institution
30AAH.—(1)  A transferor shall apply to the Court for its approval of the transfer of the whole or any part of the business of the transferor to the transferee under section 30AAG(1).
(2)  Before making an application under subsection (1) —
(a)the transferor shall lodge with the Authority a report setting out such details of the transfer and furnish such supporting documents as the Authority may specify;
(b)where the transferor is incorporated in Singapore, the transferor shall obtain the consent of the Authority under section 30AAG(1)(a);
(c)the transferor and the transferee shall, if they intend to serve on their respective customers a summary of the transfer, obtain the Authority’s approval of the summary;
(d)the transferor shall, at least 15 days before the application is made but not earlier than one month after the report referred to in paragraph (a) is lodged with the Authority, publish in the Gazette and in such newspaper or newspapers as the Authority may determine a notice of the transferor’s intention to make the application and containing such other particulars as may be prescribed by regulations made under section 30AAJ;
(e)the transferor and the transferee shall keep at their respective offices in Singapore, for inspection by any person who may be affected by the transfer, a copy of the report referred to in paragraph (a) for a period of 15 days after the publication of the notice referred to in paragraph (d) in the Gazette; and
(f)unless the Court directs otherwise, the transferor and the transferee shall serve on their respective customers affected by the transfer, at least 15 days before the application is made, a copy of the report referred to in paragraph (a) or a summary of the transfer approved by the Authority under paragraph (c).
(3)  The Authority and any person who, in the opinion of the Court, is likely to be affected by the transfer —
(a)shall have the right to appear before and be heard by the Court in any proceedings relating to the transfer; and
(b)may make any application to the Court in relation to the transfer.
(4)  Where the transferor is incorporated in Singapore, the Court shall not approve the transfer if the Authority has not consented under section 30AAG(1)(a) to the transfer.
(5)  The Court may, after taking into consideration the views, if any, of the Authority on the transfer —
(a)approve the transfer without modification or subject to any modification agreed to by the transferor and the transferee; or
(b)refuse to approve the transfer.
(6)  Where the transferee is not approved, authorised, designated, recognised, registered, licensed or otherwise regulated, under this Act or any of the written laws set out in the Schedule, to carry on in Singapore the significant business of the transferor, the Court may approve the transfer on terms that the transfer shall take effect only in the event of the transferee becoming so approved, authorised, designated, recognised, registered, licensed or regulated, as the case may be.
(7)  The Court may by the order approving the transfer or by any subsequent order provide for all or any of the following matters:
(a)the transfer to the transferee of the whole or any part of the business of the transferor;
(b)the allotment or appropriation by the transferee of any share, debenture, policy or other interest in the transferee which under the transfer is to be allotted or appropriated by the transferee to or for any person;
(c)the continuation by (or against) the transferee of any legal proceedings pending by (or against) the transferor;
(d)the dissolution, without winding up, of the transferor;
(e)the provisions to be made for persons who are affected by the transfer;
(f)such incidental, consequential and supplementary matters as are, in the opinion of the Court, necessary to secure that the transfer is fully effective.
(8)  Any order under subsection (7) may —
(a)provide for the transfer of any business, whether or not the transferor otherwise has the capacity to effect the transfer in question;
(b)make provision in relation to any property which is held by the transferor as trustee; and
(c)make provision as to any future or contingent right or liability of the transferor, including provision as to the construction of any instrument under which any such right or liability may arise.
(9)  Subject to subsection (10), where an order made under subsection (7) provides for the transfer to the transferee of the whole or any part of the transferor’s business, then by virtue of the order the business (or part thereof) of the transferor specified in the order shall be transferred to and vest in the transferee, free in the case of any particular property (if the order so directs) from any charge which by virtue of the transfer is to cease to have effect.
(10)  No order under subsection (7) shall have any effect or operation in transferring or otherwise vesting land in Singapore until the appropriate entries are made with respect to the transfer or vesting of that land by the appropriate authority.
(11)  If any business specified in an order under subsection (7) is governed by the law of any foreign country or territory, the Court may order the transferor to take all necessary steps for securing that the transfer of the business to the transferee is fully effective under the law of that country or territory.
(12)  Where an order is made under this section, the transferor and the transferee shall each lodge within 7 days after the order is made —
(a)a copy of the order with the Registrar of Companies and with the Authority; and
(b)where the order relates to land in Singapore, an office copy of the order with the appropriate authority concerned with the registration or recording of dealings in that land.
(13)  A transferor or transferee which contravenes subsection (12), and every officer of the transferor or transferee (as the case may be) who fails to take all reasonable steps to secure compliance by the transferor or transferee (as the case may be) with that subsection, shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $200 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
(14)  In subsection (13), “officer”, in relation to a transferor or transferee, includes —
(a)a director, a secretary or an executive officer of the transferor or transferee (as the case may be);
(b)a receiver or manager of any part of the undertaking of the transferor or transferee (as the case may be) appointed under a power contained in any instrument; and
(c)a liquidator of the transferor or transferee (as the case may be) appointed in a voluntary winding up.
[Act 9 of 2013 wef 18/04/2013]