Interpretation
2.—(1)  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“benefit” includes any gratuity, commission, cross commission, bonus, refund, discount, dividend and any other payment, service or advantage of whatever description, but does not include —
(a)the purchase of a sample of a commodity furnished at a price not exceeding the cost of the sample and which is not for resale; and
(b)time and effort spent in pursuit of sales, distribution or recruiting activities;
“commodity” means any goods, service, right or other property, whether tangible or intangible, capable of being the subject of a sale, lease or licence;
“company” means a company as defined in the Companies Act (Cap. 50) and includes a corporation as defined in that Act;
“multi-level marketing scheme or arrangement” has the same meaning as “pyramid selling scheme or arrangement” in this Act;
“promote”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, includes to manage, form, operate, carry on, engage in or otherwise to organise;
“pyramid selling scheme or arrangement” means any scheme or arrangement for the distribution or the purported distribution of a commodity whereby —
(a)a person may in any manner acquire a commodity or a right or a licence to acquire the commodity for sale, lease, licence or other distribution;
(b)that person receives any benefit, directly or indirectly, as a result of —
(i)the recruitment, acquisition, action or performance of one or more additional participants in the scheme or arrangement; or
(ii)the sale, lease, licence or other distribution of the commodity by one or more additional participants in the scheme or arrangement; and
(c)any benefit is or may be received by any other person who promotes, or participates in, the scheme or arrangement (other than a person referred to in paragraph (a) or an additional participant referred to in paragraph (b)).
[19/2000]
(2)  In this Act, “pyramid selling scheme or arrangement” shall be taken not to include such schemes or arrangements for the sale, lease, licence or other distribution of a commodity, or any class of such schemes or arrangements, as the Minister may by order prescribe, subject to such terms or conditions as may be specified in the order.
[19/2000]
(3)  Any reference in this Act to the winding up of a company includes, in the case of a foreign company, a reference to the winding up of the affairs of a foreign company so far as the assets of the foreign company within Singapore are concerned.