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Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 4/1980

Read the first time on 26th February 1980.

An Act to amend the Central Provident Fund Act (Chapter 121 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. This Act may be cited as the Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Act, 1980, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Central Provident Fund Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the principal Act) is amended by inserting, immediately before the word “means” in the definition of “member of the Fund”, the words “or “member” ”.

Amendment of section 3

3. Section 3 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “Board”, the words “, called “the Central Provident Fund Board”,”.

Amendment of section 4

4. Section 4 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

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

“(7) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and shall have a common seal and may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(7A) All deeds, documents and other instruments requiring the seal of the Board shall be sealed with the common seal of the Board by the authority of the Board in the presence of the General Manager or a member of the Board and of some other person duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf and shall be signed by the General Manager or the member of the Board, as the case may be, and by such duly authorised person, and such signing shall be sufficient evidence that the common seal of the Board has been duly and properly affixed and that the said seal is the lawful seal of the Board.

(7B) The Board may by resolution or otherwise appoint an officer of the Board or any other agent either generally or in a particular case to execute or sign on behalf of the Board any agreement or other instrument not under seal in relation to any matter coming within the powers of the Board.

(7C) The provisions of section 12 of the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 281) shall not apply to any instrument purporting to have been executed under the provisions of subsection (7A) of this section.”; and

(b)

by deleting subsection (11) and substituting the following: —

“(11) The Board may make rules for all or any of the purposes of this section and in particular may make rules —

(a)	for the conduct of its proceedings; and
(b)	for the appointment, promotion, dismissal, termination of service and disciplinary control of all persons employed by the Board.”.

Amendment of section 4A

5. Subsection (3) of section 4A of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (d), the following paragraph: —

“(e)	require any employer to produce for his inspection the audited statements of accounts of his undertaking and other records relating to such accounts and to answer such questions relating thereto as he may think proper to ask;”;

(b)

by re-lettering the existing paragraph (e) as paragraph (f); and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after the words “paragraph (d)” in paragraph (f), the words “or (e)”.

Amendment of section 5

6. Section 5 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following subsections: —

“(2) The Board shall be the trustee of the Fund and all moneys belonging to the Fund may be —

(a)	deposited in a bank or banks approved by the Board; or
(b)	invested in any of the investments authorised by law for the investment of trust money and the Board shall have power to convert the same into cash; or
(c)	used for the purchase of any property and for the construction of buildings for the purposes of the Board and to let the same or part thereof for the purposes of deriving income therefrom and the Board may dispose of all or any part of the aforesaid property and buildings.

(2A) The land situate at 79 Robinson Road, Singapore, acquired by the Board, and the building constructed thereon prior to the commencement of the Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Act, 1980, shall be deemed to have been purchased and constructed by the Board in pursuance of the powers conferred upon the Board by paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of this section.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 8

7. Section 8 of the principal Act is repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Expenses

8. All expenses incurred by the Board including the cost of auditing the accounts of the Fund as provided for in subsection (1) of section 9 of this Act shall be defrayed out of the moneys of the Fund.”.

Amendment of section 11

8. Section 11 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)	by deleting from subsection (1) the words “subsection (6) of section 13” and substituting the words “subsection (2) of section 13A”; and
(b)	by deleting from subsection (4) the words “subsection (5) of section 13” and substituting the words “subsection (1) of section 13A”.

Amendment of section 12

9. Section 12 of the principal Act is amended by deleting from subsection (1) the words “subsection (5) of section 13” and substituting the words “subsection (1) of section 13A”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 13

10. Section 13 of the principal Act is repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Protection of benefits

13.—(1) Except as may be provided for in regulations made under section 29 of this Act, no withdrawals made by the authority of the Board from the Fund under section 11 of this Act nor the rights of any member of the Fund acquired thereunder shall be assignable or transferable or liable to be attached, sequestrated or levied upon for or in respect of any debt or claim whatsoever.

(2) All moneys paid out of the Fund on the death of any member of the Fund shall be deemed to be impressed with a trust in favour of —

(a)	the person or persons nominated under subsection (1) of section 13A of this Act by the deceased member (if any); or
(b)	the person or persons determined by the Public Trustee in accordance with subsection (2) of section 13A of this Act to be entitled thereto,

but shall, without prejudice to the operation of the Estate Duty Act (Cap. 137), be deemed not to form part of the deceased member’s estate or to be subject to his debts.

(3) No contribution to the Fund or interest thereon shall be subject to the debts of the member of the Fund, nor shall such contribution or interest pass to the Official Assignee on the bankruptcy of such member, but if such member is adjudicated a bankrupt or is declared insolvent by judgment of the court, such contribution and interest shall be deemed not to form part of the property of the member.

(4) The bankruptcy of an employee shall not affect the payment of contributions from the wages of the employee in accordance with the provisions of this Act, but such payment shall continue to be made notwithstanding the provisions of any written law and the portion of wages so paid shall be deemed not to form part of his after-acquired property.”.

New sections 13A, 13B and 13C

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

“Moneys payable on the death of a member

13A.—(1) Any member of the Fund may by a memorandum executed in the prescribed manner nominate a person or persons to receive in his or their own right such portions of the amount payable on his death out of the Fund under subsection (1) of section 12 of this Act as the memorandum shall indicate.

(2) If, at the time of the death of a member of the Fund, there is no person nominated under subsection (1) of this section, the total amount payable out of the Fund shall be paid to the Public Trustee for disposal in accordance with any written law for the time being in force, and if any person nominated, other than a widow, is under the age of eighteen years at the time of payment of the amount payable out of the Fund, his portion of the amount payable shall similarly be paid to the Public Trustee for the benefit of such nominated person.

(3) The receipt of a person or persons nominated under subsection (1) of this section or of the Public Trustee shall be a discharge to the Board for such portions of the moneys payable out of the Fund on the death of a member as are payable to such person or persons or the Public Trustee under subsection (2) of this section.

Withdrawals by undischarged bankrupts

13B.—(1) Save as provided in this section or in any regulations made under section 29 of this Act, a member who is an undischarged bankrupt shall not be entitled to make withdrawals from the amount standing to his credit in the Fund.

(2) The Board may in its discretion allow a member who is an undischarged bankrupt to withdraw from the amount standing to his credit in the Fund if he satisfies any of the grounds for withdrawals specified in paragraph (a), (d) or (e) of subsection (2) of section 11 of this Act. Any moneys paid out of the Fund to that member shall be deemed not to form part of his afteracquired property and shall not be liable to be attached, sequestrated or levied upon for or in respect of any debt or claim whatsoever.

(3) Where withdrawals are made by a member who is an undischarged bankrupt under subsection (2) of this section, the Board may impose such conditions (including conditions as to the amounts that may be withdrawn by the undischarged bankrupt) as it may think fit.

(4) The Board shall not authorise the withdrawal of the total amount standing to the credit of a member who is an undischarged bankrupt under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section without the approval of the Minister.

(5) All applications for withdrawals under this section shall be in such form and shall be supported by such evidence as the Board may reasonably require.

Nomination to be revoked by marriage

13C.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section any nomination made by a member of the Fund under subsection (1) of section 13A of this Act or under any previous corresponding provision shall be revoked by his marriage, whether the marriage was contracted before or after the commencement of the Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Act, 1980.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any nomination made by a member who has died at any time prior to the commencement of the Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Act, 1980.”.

Amendment of section 25

12. Section 25 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “proportion of the”; and
(b)	by deleting the word “is” in the penultimate line and substituting the word “are”.

Amendment of section 29

13. Subsection (1) of section 29 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (h); and

(b)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (i) and substituting the word “; and”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph: —

“(j)	to provide for rates of contributions, other than those specified in the Schedule to this Act, in respect of such categories, classes or descriptions of employees as the Minister may specify.”.