PART 1 | AMENDMENT OF ESTATE AGENTS ACT 2010 |
2. In the Estate Agents Act 2010 (called in this Part the Estate Agents Act), in section 3 —| (a) | in subsection (1), after the definition of “Council”, insert —“ “counterparty”, in relation to an acquisition or a disposition of a property for which a licensed estate agent or registered salesperson is doing estate agency work for a client, means —| (a) | where the client is a purchaser of the property — a vendor of the property; or | | (b) | where the client is a vendor of the property — a purchaser of the property;”; |
|
|
| | (b) | in subsection (1), after the definition of “president”, insert —| “ “proliferation financing” means the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;”; |
|
| | (c) | in subsection (2)(a), after sub‑paragraph (ii), insert —| “(iia) | has been convicted of an offence involving money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing (whether in Singapore or elsewhere);”; and |
|
| | (d) | in subsection (2)(b), after sub‑paragraph (ii), insert —| “(iia) | the person has been convicted of an offence involving money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing (whether in Singapore or elsewhere);”. |
|
|
|
| Amendment of Part 4A heading |
| 3. In the Estate Agents Act, in Part 4A, in the Part heading, replace “AND FINANCING OF TERRORISM” with “, PROLIFERATION FINANCING AND TERRORISM FINANCING”. |
| 4. In the Estate Agents Act, in section 44A(1), replace “the financing of terrorism or both” with “proliferation financing or terrorism financing, or any combination of these activities”. |
| 5. In the Estate Agents Act, in section 44B(1)(b) and (2)(b), replace “money laundering or terrorism financing” with “money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing”. |
6. In the Estate Agents Act, after section 44B, insert —| “Counterparty due diligence measures |
44BA.—(1) This section applies when, in relation to an acquisition or a disposition of a property for which a licensed estate agent or registered salesperson is doing estate agency work for a client, a counterparty is not represented by any licensed estate agent or registered salesperson in respect of the acquisition or disposition of the property. (2) The licensed estate agent must perform the prescribed counterparty due diligence measures in any of the following circumstances:| (a) | where the licensed estate agent has reason to suspect money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; | | (b) | where the licensed estate agent has reason to doubt the veracity or adequacy of information obtained from earlier counterparty due diligence measures; | | (c) | under circumstances prescribed for the purposes of this section. |
|
(3) The registered salesperson must perform the prescribed counterparty due diligence measures in any of the following circumstances:| (a) | where the registered salesperson has reason to suspect money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; | | (b) | where the registered salesperson has reason to doubt the veracity or adequacy of information obtained from earlier counterparty due diligence measures; | | (c) | under circumstances prescribed for the purposes of this section.”. |
|
|
|
|
7. In the Estate Agents Act, in section 44C(1) —| (a) | replace paragraph (a) with —| “(a) | a record of all estate agency work for which —| (i) | the licensed estate agent must perform the customer due diligence measures mentioned in section 44B(1) or the counterparty due diligence measures mentioned in section 44BA(2); or | | (ii) | a registered salesperson of the licensed estate agent must perform the customer due diligence measures mentioned in section 44B(2) or the counterparty due diligence measures mentioned in section 44BA(3), |
| containing such particulars as may be prescribed;”; |
|
|
| | (b) | after paragraph (b), insert —| “(ba) | a record of all information relating to a counterparty that is kept or obtained by the licensed estate agent, or by a registered salesperson of the licensed estate agent, through the counterparty due diligence measures performed under section 44BA(2) or (3);”; and |
|
| | (c) | in paragraph (c), replace “and (b)” with “, (b) and (ba)”. |
|
8. In the Estate Agents Act, in section 49 —| (a) | replace subsection (6) with —“(6) Subject to subsections (7), (8), (9), (10) and (11), after considering the report and recommendations submitted under section 50(3) —| (a) | where the Council is satisfied that any of the following has been contravened:| (i) | any provision of Part 4A; | | (ii) | any regulation made under section 72, or any provision of a code of practice, ethics and conduct prescribed or issued and published under section 42(1), in respect of requirements relating to the detection and prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, or for the reporting of transactions suspected of involving money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing, |
| the Council may do one or both of the following: |
| (iii) | impose on the licensed estate agent or registered salesperson concerned a financial penalty not exceeding $5,000 for each contravention; | | (iv) | censure the licensed estate agent or registered salesperson concerned; and |
| | (b) | where the Council is satisfied that there is any other sufficient cause apart from a contravention mentioned in paragraph (a), the Council may do one or both of the following:| (i) | impose on the licensed estate agent or registered salesperson concerned a financial penalty of any amount not exceeding $5,000; | | (ii) | censure the licensed estate agent or registered salesperson concerned.”; and |
|
|
|
| | (b) | in subsection (8), replace “or both” with “or all”. |
|
9. In the Estate Agents Act, in section 52 —| (a) | in subsection (3), after “subsection (12)”, insert “or (13) or both (as the case may be)”; | | (b) | in subsection (12), after “impose”, insert “for any sufficient cause for disciplinary action apart from a contravention mentioned in subsection (13)”; and | | (c) | after subsection (12), insert —“(13) The maximum financial penalty that the Disciplinary Committee may impose where the Disciplinary Committee determines that a licensed estate agent or registered salesperson has contravened —| (a) | any provision of Part 4A; or | | (b) | any regulation made under section 72, or any provision of a code of practice, ethics and conduct prescribed or issued and published under section 42(1), in respect of requirements relating to the detection and prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, or for the reporting of transactions suspected of involving money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing, |
| (c) | in the case of a licensed estate agent — $200,000 for each contravention; and | | (d) | in the case of a registered salesperson — $100,000 for each contravention.”. |
|
|
|
|
10. In the Estate Agents Act, in section 72(2), replace paragraph (q) with —| “(q) | requirements in relation to the detection and prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, or for the reporting of transactions suspected of involving money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing;”. |
|
|
11. In the Estate Agents Act —| (a) | in section 32A(1)(a) and (2)(a), replace “section 49(6)(a)” with “section 49(6)(a)(iii) or (b)(i)”; and | | (b) | in section 36(3)(ba), replace “section 49(6)(b)” with “section 49(6)(a)(iv) or (b)(ii)”. |
|
|
