Moneylenders Act

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Coming into Force: 31 March 2010
• Act Number: (Original Enactment: Act 31 of 2008)
• Record Number: Cap. 188
• Published date: 31 March 2010

Moneylenders Act

(CHAPTER 188)

(Original Enactment: Act 31 of 2008)

REVISED EDITION 2010

(31st March 2010)

An Act for the regulation of moneylending, the designation and control of a credit bureau, the collection, use and disclosure of borrower information and data, and for connected matters. [Act 7 of 2018 wef 30/11/2018]

[1st March 2009: Except section 5(3)(b) ;

1st July 2010: Section 5(3)(b) ]

PART I PRELIMINARY Short title and commencement 1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Moneylenders Act. (2) Section 5(3)(b) shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “assistant”, in relation to an applicant for a licence or a licensee — (a) means any person employed or engaged, or proposed to be employed or engaged, by the applicant or the licensee for the purposes of the applicant’s or the licensee’s business of moneylending, other than to manage the applicant’s or the licensee’s business of moneylending; and (b) includes a person who is employed or engaged, or proposed to be employed or engaged, by the applicant or licensee to collect any debt on behalf of the applicant or licensee; [Act 7 of 2018 wef 30/11/2018] “Authority” means the Monetary Authority of Singapore established under section 3 of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 186); “bank” means — (a) a bank licensed under the Banking Act (Cap. 19); or (b) a merchant bank that is approved as a financial institution under section 28 of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act, and includes a finance company licensed under the Finance Companies Act (Cap. 108); “body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership; “book” includes any account, deed, writing or document and any other record of information, however compiled, recorded or stored, whether in written or printed form or on microfilm or by electronic process or otherwise; [Act 7 of 2018 wef 30/11/2018] “business name”, in relation to a moneylender, means the name under which the moneylender is authorised by a licence to carry on the business of moneylending; “business trust” has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Business Trusts Act (Cap. 31A); “company” means a company limited by shares under the Companies Act (Cap. 50); [Act 7 of 2018 wef 29/03/2019] “corporation” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act; “director” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act; “excluded moneylender” means — (a) any body corporate, incorporated or empowered by an Act of Parliament to lend money in accordance with that Act; (b) any person licensed, approved, registered or otherwise regulated by the Authority under any other written law, to the extent that such person is permitted or authorised to lend money or is not prohibited from lending money under that other written law; (c) any society registered as a credit society under the Co-operative Societies Act (Cap. 62); (d) any pawnbroker licensed under the Pawnbrokers Act 2015; [Act 2 of 2015 wef 01/04/2015] (e) any person who — (i) lends money solely to his employees as a benefit of employment; (ii) lends money solely to accredited investors within the meaning of section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289); (iii) lends money solely to — (A) corporations; (B) limited liability partnerships; (C) trustees or trustee-managers, as the case may be, of business trusts for the purposes of the business trusts; (D) trustees of real estate investment trusts for the purposes of the real estate investment trusts, or who carries on any combination of such activities or services; or (f) any person carrying on any business not having for its primary object the lending of money in the course of which and for the purposes whereof he lends money; “exempt moneylender” means any moneylender who has been granted an exemption under section 35 or 36 from holding a licence; [Deleted by Act 7 of 2018 wef 29/03/2019] “interest”, in relation to a loan, means any amount by whatsoever name called in excess of the principal paid or payable to a moneylender in consideration of or otherwise in respect of the loan, but does not include any permitted fee, stamp duty or other fee payable under this Act or any other written law; “licence” means a moneylender’s licence issued or renewed under this Act, and “licensee” shall be construed accordingly; “limited liability partnership” has the same meaning as in the Limited Liability Partnerships Act (Cap. 163A); “moneylender” means a person who, whether as principal or agent, carries on or holds himself out in any way as carrying on the business of moneylending, whether or not he carries on any other business, but does not include any excluded moneylender; “permitted fee”, in relation to a loan, means the costs, charges or expenses prescribed under section 22(1) that may be imposed on the borrower under the contract for the loan; “principal”, in relation to a loan, means the amount actually lent by a moneylender under the contract for the loan; “real estate investment trust” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289); [Act 4 of 2017 wef 08/10/2018] “Registrar” means the Registrar of Moneylenders appointed under section 4 and includes a Deputy Registrar of Moneylenders and an Assistant Registrar of Moneylenders appointed under that section; “substantial shareholder” and “substantial shareholding” have the same meanings as in Division 4 of Part IV of the Companies Act (Cap. 50); “unlicensed moneylender” means a person — (a) who is presumed to be a moneylender under section 3; and (b) who is not a licensee or an exempt moneylender. [5/2010] Persons presumed to be moneylenders 3. Any person, other than an excluded moneylender, who lends a sum of money in consideration of a larger sum being repaid shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be a moneylender. Appointment of Registrar, etc. 4. The Minister may appoint any public officer to be the Registrar of Moneylenders and such number of public officers as he thinks fit to be Deputy Registrars of Moneylenders and Assistant Registrars of Moneylenders under this Act.

PART II LICENSING OF MONEYLENDERS No moneylending except under licence, etc. 5.—(1) No person shall carry on or hold himself out in any way as carrying on the business of moneylending in Singapore, whether as principal or as agent, unless — (a) he is authorised to do so by a licence; (b) he is an excluded moneylender; or (c) he is an exempt moneylender. (1A) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person who wholly or partly carries on, from a place outside Singapore, the business of moneylending in Singapore shall be taken to have carried on that business in Singapore. [5/2010] (2) The Minister may prescribe different classes or descriptions of licences for the purposes of this Act. (3) An application for the issue of a licence shall be — (a) made in such form and manner as may be determined by the Registrar; and 1(b) accompanied by the payment of a non-refundable application fee of a prescribed amount, which shall be paid in such manner as may be specified by the Registrar. [5/2010 wef 01/07/2010] 1 Section 5(3)(b) came into operation on 1st July 2010vide G.N. No. S 303/2010. (4) The Registrar may issue a licence with or without conditions, or he may refuse to issue a licence. (5) Without prejudice to sections 6A and 7, the Registrar shall not issue a licence — (a) where any information or statement furnished by the applicant that is material to his application for the issue of a licence under this section is incomplete, false or misleading; (b) where the applicant does not satisfy the requirements of the class or description of the licence applied for; or (c) where the applicant does not place with the Accountant-General as security for the proper conduct of his business of moneylending in Singapore, in such form as the Registrar may determine, a deposit of such amount as the Minister may prescribe, for each place of business in respect of which he is to be licensed. [Act 7 of 2018 wef 30/11/2018] [Act 7 of 2018 wef 29/03/2019] (6) Every licence shall come into operation on the date specified therein, and shall be valid for a period of 12 months or such other prescribed period as may be specified in the licence. (7) The Registrar may at any time, by notice in writing to the licensee, vary or revoke any of the existing conditions of the licence or impose new conditions. (8) [Deleted by Act 7 of 2018 wef 29/03/2019] Renewal of licences 6.—(1) An application for the renewal of a licence shall be made not later than one month before the expiry of the licence, in such form and manner as may be determined by the Registrar. (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), every licensee must notify the Registrar at least one month before the expiry of his licence if he does not wish to renew his licence. (3) The Registrar may renew a licence with or without conditions, or he may refuse to renew a licence. (4) Without prejudice to sections 6A and 7, the Registrar shall not renew a licence — (a) where any information or statement furnished by the licensee that is material to his application for the renewal of his licence under this section is incomplete, false or misleading; (b) where the licensee ceases to satisfy the requirements of the class or description of the licence to be renewed; or (c) where the licensee does not place or maintain with the Accountant-General as security for the proper conduct of his business of moneylending in Singapore, in such form as the Registrar may determine, a deposit of such amount as the Minister may prescribe, for each place of business in respect of which his licence is to be renewed. [Act 7 of 2018 wef 30/11/2018] [Act 7 of 2018 wef 29/03/2019] (5) Upon the renewal of a licence, the licence shall continue to be valid for a further period of 12 months or such other prescribed period as may be specified in the licence from the date immediately following that on which, but for its renewal, the licence would have expired. ...