Finance Companies Act
(Chapter 108, Section 57)
Finance Companies (Advertisements) Regulations
Rg 2
G.N. No. S 72/1984

REVISED EDITION 2001
(31st January 2001)
[16th March 1984]
Citation
1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Finance Companies (Advertisements) Regulations.
Definitions
2.  In these Regulations —
“advertisement” means any notification or intimation of financing business —
(a)published in any newspaper, journal or magazine or in the form of a brochure or in any other form;
(b)displayed on any hoarding, boarding, roof wall, paling, fence, frame, signboard, plate, cloth, bar, pillar, post, wire, casting or other erection or contrivance; or
(c)conveyed by means of films within the meaning of the Films Act (Cap. 107) or by means of broadcast sound receivers or broadcast television receivers within the meaning of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (Broadcasting and Television) Regulations (Cap. 297, Rg 1);
“existing advertisement” means any advertisement which was in existence on 16th March 1984.
Permit for advertisement
3.—(1)  No advertisement shall be made without previously obtaining a permit in writing from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
(2)  An applicant for a permit shall make an application in such form as the Monetary Authority of Singapore may require.
(3)  The Monetary Authority of Singapore may, in its discretion, grant a permit to advertise with or without attaching any condition or conditions.
(4)  The fee payable for a permit under this regulation shall be $300 and the permit shall be renewable upon application on an annual basis.
Advertisement confined to financing business
4.  No permit for advertisement as provided in regulation 3 shall be issued for any business other than financing business as defined in the Act.
Advertisement to comply with certain requirements
5.  All advertisements shall comply with the following provisions:
(a)any advertisement (other than that conveyed by means of broadcast sound receivers or through broadcast television receivers) made by a licensed finance company shall include the advertisement permit number unless the Monetary Authority of Singapore in any particular case waives the requirement on the ground that it would be impracticable for the permit number to be included in the advertisement;
(b)no advertisement shall contain anything which suggests or is calculated to suggest —
(i)the patronage of the President or of any of the members of his family;
(ii)any connection with any Government department, statutory body or public building or place; or
(iii)any connection with any person unless his express prior approval has been obtained;
(c)no advertisement shall contain anything which suggests or is calculated to suggest any attribute to which the finance company cannot genuinely lay proper claim;
(d)no advertisement shall contain any irresponsible or exaggerated statements or visual presentation that is calculated to mislead or exploit an individual’s lack of experience and knowledge;
(e)no advertisement shall play upon the fears or superstitions of the public responding to the advertisement;
(f)no advertisement shall contain offensive statements or visual presentation or appear to lend support to unlawful activities; and
(g)no advertisement shall, directly or indirectly, discredit other advertisements or make unfair comparisons.
Penalty
6.  Any licensed finance company which contravenes any of the provisions of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and for a second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
[G.N. No. S 72/84]