National Productivity Board (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 19/1973

Read the first time on 11th July 1973.

An Act to amend the National Productivity Board Act, 1972 (No. 11 of 1972).

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

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the National Productivity Board (Amendment) Act, 1973, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 16

2. Section 16 of the National Productivity Board Act, 1972 (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Accounts to be kept

16.—(1) The Board shall prepare in respect of each financial year ending on the 31st day of March a statement of account in a form approved by the Minister.

(2) The Board shall keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Board and over the expenditure incurred by the Board.

Appointment and powers of auditor

16A.—(1) The accounts of the Board shall be audited by the Auditor-General or by an auditor appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General.

(2) The Auditor-General or the auditor appointed under subsection (1) of this section, as the case may be, is entitled to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating directly or indirectly to the financial transactions of the Board and may make copies of or extracts from, any such accounting and other records.

(3) The Board’s auditor or a person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information which such person possesses or has access to as the auditor or duly authorised person considers necessary for the purposes of the functions of the auditor under this Act.

(4) An officer of the Board who refuses or fails without any reasonable cause to allow the Board’s auditor access to any accounting and other records of the Board in his custody or power or to give any information possessed by him as and when required or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the Board’s auditor in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars and in the case of a continuing offence to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for every day or part thereof during which the offence is continued after conviction.

Financial statements

16B.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of the financial year, prepare and submit the financial statements in respect of that year to the Board’s auditor who shall audit and report on them.

(2) The Board’s auditor shall report —

(a)	whether or not the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Board; and
(b)	on such other matters arising from the audit as he considers necessary.

(3) The Board’s auditor shall state in his report whether or not —

(a)	proper accounting and other records have been kept;
(b)	the financial statements are prepared on a basis similar to that adopted for the preceding year;
(c)	the financial statements are in agreement with the accounting and other records;
(d)	the receipt, expenditure and investment of moneys and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Board during the year have been in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Presentation of financial statements and audit reports

16C.—(1) As soon as the accounts of the Board and the financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a copy of the audited financial statements signed by the Chairman and certified by the auditor, together with a copy of any report made by the Board’s auditor, shall be submitted to the Minister.

(2) Where the Auditor-General has not been appointed to be the auditor of the Board a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time as they are submitted to the Minister.

(3) A copy of the audited financial statements and of the report of the Board’s auditor shall be presented to Parliament.”.

New section 23

3. The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 22 thereof the following section: —

“Symbol of the Board

23.—(1) The Board shall have the exclusive right to the use of the symbol (in this section referred to as “the Board’s symbol”), a representation of which is set out in the Schedule to this Act.

(2) Any person who without the permission of the Board uses a symbol identical to or resembling the Board’s symbol as to be likely to deceive or cause confusion in relation to the identity of the Board shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.”.

New Schedule

4. The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 23 thereof the following Schedule: —

“THE SCHEDULE

Section 23.

”.

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