Currency (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 1/1982

Read the first time on 3rd March 1982.

An Act to amend the Currency Act (Chapter 64 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Currency (Amendment) Act, 1982.

(2) Section 10 shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 15th day of April 1981.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Currency Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the definition of “Commissioners” and substituting the following definition: —

“ “currency” means currency notes and coins which are legal tender in Singapore;”;

(b)

by deleting the semi-colon at the end of the definition of “issue” and substituting a full-stop; and

(c)

by deleting the definition of “the 1960 Currency Agreement”.

Repeal of section 12

3. Section 12 of the Currency Act is repealed.

Amendment of section 14

4. Section 14 of the Currency Act is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “, subject to subsection (3) of this section,” in subsection (1);
(b)	by deleting the words “one dollar” in paragraph (b)(i) of subsection (2) and substituting the words “fifty cents”;
(c)	by deleting the words “and one dollar” in paragraph (b)(ii) of subsection (2); and
(d)	by deleting subsections (3) and (4).

Repeal and re-enactment of sections 16 and 17

5. Sections 16 and 17 of the Currency Act are repealed and the following sections substituted therefor: —

“Exchange of currency notes and coins

16.—(1) The Board shall arrange for the re-issue and exchange of currency notes and coins at its offices subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.

(2) The Board may in its discretion charge any person or class of persons such fee as may be prescribed for the re-issue and exchange of currency notes or coins with the Board under this section.

Power to buy and sell currency notes and coins

17.—(1) The Board may in its discretion buy and sell currency notes and coins against gold, silver or foreign currencies eligible for inclusion in the reserve of the external assets specified under section 24.

(2) The Board shall be entitled to charge a commission at such rate or rates as may, from time to time, be determined for any currency notes or coins bought or sold by the Board under this section.”.

Repeal of section 18

6. Section 18 of the Currency Act is repealed.

Amendment of section 19

7. Section 19 of the Currency Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following subsection: —

“(2) The dies, plates and other instruments or materials used for the printing of notes shall be prepared and kept and the currency notes printed, issued and destroyed in accordance with any direction of the Board for the prevention of fraud and improper use.”;

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsection: —

“(4) The dies and any other instruments or materials used for the minting of coins shall be prepared and kept, issued and destroyed in accordance with any direction of the Board for the prevention of fraud and improper use.”; and

(c)

by renumbering the existing subsection (4) as subsection (5).

Amendment of section 21

8. Section 21 of the Currency Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “or imperfect” in subsections (1) and (2) and substituting in each case the word “currency”;

(b)

by deleting the word “within” in the last line of subsection (2) and substituting the word “in”; and

(c)

by deleting the marginal note and substituting the following marginal note: —

“Mutilated notes and coins.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 22

9. Section 22 of the Currency Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor: —

“Restriction on the use of photographs, drawing or design of currency notes and coins inadvertisements, etc.

22.—(1) Except with the permission of the Board, no person shall, in any size, scale or colour, use any photograph of or any drawing or design resembling any currency note or coin or part thereof, in any advertisement or in any merchandise or product which that person manufactures, sells, circulates or otherwise distributes.

(2) Except with the permission of the Board, no person shall use or reproduce any design used in or on any currency note or coin on any merchandise or product which that person manufactures, sells, circulates or otherwise distributes.

(3) No person shall make or issue a piece of gold, silver, copper, nickel, bronze or of any other material whether metal or otherwise, of any value, resembling or similar to any coin issued under this Act or any other written law relating to the issue of currency which was in force at any time before the commencement of the Currency (Amendment) Act, 1982.

(4) Any person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.”.

Amendment of section 23

10. Section 23 of the Currency Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the word “exclusively” in subsection (1);

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (1), the following subsection: —

“(1A) The Board may, with the approval of the President, appoint any person to manage the Fund on its behalf in the manner prescribed in this Act.”;

(c)

by deleting paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and substituting the following paragraph: —

“(a)	all gold, silver and foreign currencies bought by the Board pursuant to section 17; and”;

(d)

by deleting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsection: —

“(3) Save as otherwise provided in this Act the Fund shall not be applied for any other purpose.”;

(e)

by inserting, immediately after the word “gold” in paragraph (a) of subsection (5), the words “and silver”; and

(f)

by deleting subsection (7) and substituting the following subsections: —

“(7) The value of the Fund and its assets for any purpose of this Act shall be determined by such method as the Board may, with the approval of the President, from time to time adopt.

(8) Any method of valuation adopted by the Board pursuant to subsection (7) shall be published in the Gazette.”.

Amendment of section 24

11. Section 24 of the Currency Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “The Fund shall consist of all or any of the following external assets” in the first and second lines and substituting the following words: —

“The external assets of the Fund shall consist of all or any of the following and they shall at all times be not less than one hundred per cent of the face value of the currency issued by the Board”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after the word “gold” in paragraph (a), the words “and silver”.

Amendment of section 29

12. Section 29 of the Currency Act is amended by renumbering the section as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsection: —

“(2) The Auditor-General shall in his report state —

(a)	whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Board;
(b)	whether proper accounting and other records have been kept;
(c)	whether the receipts, expenditure and investment of moneys, and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Board during the financial year were in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and
(d)	such other matters arising from the audit as he considers necessary.”.

New sections 30A and 30B

13. The Currency Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 30, the following sections: —

“Mutilating, destroying or defacing currency notes and coins

30A.—(1) Any person who —

(a)	mutilates or destroys any currency note or coin;
(b)	causes any change in a coin so as to destroy or diminish its value or utility;
(c)	prints, or stamps, or by any like means writes, or impresses, on any currency note any marks, words, letters or figures; or
(d)	defaces any coin by stamping thereon any names or words, whether the coin is or is not thereby diminished or lightened,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting or affecting the provisions of the Penal Code (Cap. 103).

Power of arrest

30B. Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person —

(a)	offending in his view against section 15, 22 or 30A; or
(b)	against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or creditable information has been received or a reasonable suspicion exists of his having contravened section 15, 22 or 30A.”.

Repeal of Part V

14. Part V of the Currency Act is repealed.

Repeal of Schedule

15. The Schedule to the Currency Act is repealed.

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