Newspaper and Printing Presses (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 8/1981

Read the first time on 6th March 1981.

An Act to amend the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, 1974 (No. 12 of 1974).

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

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Newspaper and Printing Presses (Amendment) Act, 1981.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 9A

2. Section 9A of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, 1974, is repealed and the following section substituted therefor: —

“No person to hold more than three per cent of ordinary issued shares without the approval of the Minister

9A.—(1) No person shall, without the prior approval of the Minister, hold either directly or indirectly through his nominees more than three per cent of the ordinary shares issued by a newspaper company.

(2) The Minister may grant his approval under subsection (1) of this section subject to such conditions as he sees fit to impose.

(3) Any person who directly or indirectly holds more than three per cent of the ordinary shares issued by a newspaper company without having obtained the prior approval of the Minister shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to the penalty prescribed by section 26 of this Act and any surplus shares held by him shall be forfeited to the Government.

(4) The Minister may at any time revoke any approval given under subsection (1) of this section without assigning any reason therefor.

(5) Before the Minister revokes any approval given under subsection (1), the Minister shall give the person concerned a reasonable time to dispose of his surplus shares.

(6) Any nominee company which is registered as the holder of ordinary shares issued by a newspaper company shall, at the request of the Registrar, disclose to him the names and addresses of the persons on whose behalf it is holding such shares, and if such information is not furnished within fourteen days of such request the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to the penalty prescribed by section 26 of this Act.

(7) In this section, “surplus shares” means all the ordinary shares of a newspaper company held by, and on behalf of, a person in excess of the three per cent limit prescribed by subsection (1) of this section.

(8) Any person who has been exempted from subsection (2) of section 9B of this Act which was in force immediately prior to the commencement of the Newspaper and Printing Presses (Amendment) Act, 1981, shall be deemed to have been granted the approval of the Minister under subsection (1) of this section.”.

Repeal of section 9B

3. Section 9B of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, 1974, is repealed.

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