14. The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 11, the following regulations:“Suspension of approval as approved person |
11A.—(1) The Minister may, without prejudice to any other penalty prescribed under the Act or any other remedy the Government may have under the Act in respect of any breach of these Regulations or any terms and conditions of approval applicable to an approved person, suspend the approval of an approved person in respect of any approved institution for a period not exceeding 6 months if the Minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that —(a) | the approved person has made any false or misleading statement or provided any document which the approved person knows to be false or misleading in the application under regulation 11(1); | (b) | the approved person has breached any provision of these Regulations or any terms and conditions of approval applicable to that person; or | (c) | the approved person is being investigated for, or charged with, an offence of criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft or extortion or any other offence involving fraud or dishonesty (whether in Singapore or elsewhere). |
(2) The Minister may appoint another person as an approved person in respect of that approved institution during the period of suspension mentioned in paragraph (1) or (5)(a), subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister may impose. |
(3) The Minister must, before suspending the approval of an approved person under paragraph (1), give the approved person —(a) | notice in writing of the Minister’s intention to do so; and | (b) | an opportunity to make written representations, within the time specified in the notice (being not less than 14 days after the date of the service of the notice mentioned in sub‑paragraph (a)), as to why the approved person’s approval should not be suspended. |
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(4) The Minister must —(a) | notify the approved person, in writing, of the Minister’s decision under paragraph (1); and | (b) | specify, in the written notice in sub‑paragraph (a), a date upon which the suspension is to take effect, being not less than 7 days after the date of the service of that notice. |
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(5) If the Minister is satisfied that there is a good reason to do so, the Minister may —(a) | extend the suspension period for any further period or periods, each not exceeding 6 months; or | (b) | lift the suspension before the period of suspension expires. |
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(6) The Minister must, before extending the suspension period of an approved person under paragraph (5)(a), give the approved person —(a) | notice in writing of the Minister’s intention to do so; and | (b) | an opportunity to make written representations, within the time specified in the notice (being not less than 14 days after the date of the service of the notice mentioned in sub‑paragraph (a)), as to why the suspension period should not be extended. |
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Revocation of appointment or approval |
11B.—(1) The Minister may, despite the suspension of approval of an approved person under regulation 11A and without prejudice to any other penalty prescribed under the Act or any other remedy the Government may have under the Act in respect of any breach of these Regulations or any terms and conditions of appointment or approval applicable to an approved person, revoke the appointment or approval of the approved person in respect of any approved institution if —(a) | the Minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that the approved person has made any false or misleading statement or provided any document which he knows to be false or misleading in his application under regulation 11(1); | (b) | the Minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that the approved person is dead, bankrupt, wound‑up or dissolved, as the case may be; | (c) | the Minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that the approved institution —(i) | is no longer in operation; | (ii) | being an early childhood development centre, has ceased to be operated by a person in accordance with section 6 of the Early Childhood Development Centres Act 2017; | (iii) | being a preschool or special education school, has ceased to be registered under the Education Act or the Private Education Act; | (iv) | has ceased to be an early intervention centre, a preschool or a special education school; | (v) | being a private hospital, medical clinic, clinical laboratory or healthcare establishment, has ceased to be licensed under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act; | (vi) | being a pharmacy, has ceased to be licensed under a pharmacy licence; | (vii) | has ceased to be an assistive technology device provider; | (viii) | in the case of an optical shop, other than an optometry centre that is managed or operated by a polytechnic, has ceased to be registered under any written law administered by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority; or | (ix) | in the case of an optometry centre that is managed or operated by a polytechnic, has ceased to be an optometry centre managed or operated by the polytechnic, |
| (d) | the approved person is convicted of an offence of criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft or extortion or any other offence involving fraud or dishonesty (whether in Singapore or elsewhere); | (e) | the Minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that the approved person has breached any provision of these Regulations or any terms and conditions of the appointment or approval applicable to that person; or | (f) | the Minister considers that it is no longer in the public interest for the approved person to continue to participate in the Scheme. |
(2) When the Minister revokes the appointment or approval of an approved person in respect of an approved institution in any of the circumstances referred to in paragraph (1)(a), (b), (d), (e) or (f), the Minister may appoint any person as an approved person for that institution —(a) | for a period not exceeding 6 months, and for one or more further periods (each not exceeding 6 months), as the Minister may determine; or | (b) | until another approved person is earlier approved for that institution under regulation 11(4)(b). |
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(3) The appointment under paragraph (2)(a) is subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister may impose. |
(4) Regulation 11A(3) and (4) applies, with the necessary modifications, to the revocation of the appointment or approval of an approved person. |
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Requirement for approved person to appoint auditor |
11C.—(1) The Director may, by written notice to an approved person in respect of any approved institution, require the approved person to appoint an auditor to conduct an audit of the approved person’s compliance with the Act, these Regulations or any terms and conditions of appointment or approval applicable to that person. (2) The written notice under paragraph (1) may provide for —(a) | the requirements for the audit (including any documents and information to be made available for the audit); | (b) | the time by which the audit must be completed; and | (c) | the requirement for the findings of the audit to be provided to the Director by a time specified in that notice.”. |
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