Legislation

Residential Property (Amendment) Act 2006 in force from 31 March 2006

Pursuant to the Residential Property (Amendment) Act (Commencement) Notification 2006, the Residential Property (Amendment) Act 2006 (the ‘Amendment Act’) came into force on 31 March 2006. For details of the changes arising from the Amendment Act, please refer to the April 2006 issue of The Singapore Law Gazette.

Workplace Health and Safety Act 2006 in force from 1 March 2006

The Workplace Health and Safety Act 2006 (A7/2006) (the ‘Act’) came into force on 1 March 2006.

The Act, which repeals the Factories Act, constitutes the legal framework for the new occupational safety and health (‘OSH’) regulatory system, and will be administered by the Commissioner for Workplace Safety and Health.

The key reforms are as follows:

1   allows a gradual increase in scope to cover all workplaces;

2   allocates responsibility to a range of stakeholders at the workplace along lines of control;

3   focuses on workplace safety and health systems and outcomes;

4   provides for more effective enforcement through issuance of ‘remedial orders’; and

5   provides for higher penalties for non-compliant and risk-taking behaviour to prevent accidents upfront.

The following regulations and order have been issued pursuant to the Act. Unless otherwise stated, they are also operative from 1 March 2006:

1   Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations 2006 (S134/2006)

2   Workplace Safety and Health (Registration of Factories) Regulations 2006 (S135/2006)

3   Workplace Safety and Health (Incident Reporting) Regulations 2006 (S136/2006)

4   Workplace Safety and Health (First-Aid) Regulations 2006 (S137/2006)            

5   Workplace Safety and Health (Offences and Penalties) (Subsidiary Legislation under section 67(14)) Regulations 2006 (S138/2006)

6   Workplace Safety and Health (Composition of Offences) Regulations 2006 (S139/2006)

7   Workplace Safety and Health (Transitional Provision) Regulations 2006 (S140/2006)

8   Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations 2006 (S141/2006) (operative from 1 September 2006)

9   Workplace Safety and Health (Exemption) Order 2006 (S142/2006)

10 Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (S143/2006)

Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill 2006

The Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill 2006 (B12/2006) was introduced in Parliament on 9 March 2006 and passed on 3 April 2006.

The Bill amends the Moneylenders Act (the ‘Act’) to: (a) enhance the powers of the Registrar of Moneylenders (the ‘Registrar’) in the administration of the Act; (b) clarify that the Minister may revoke an exemption granted to a person on certain grounds; and (c) expand the rule-making power of the Minister. The details of the amendments that are proposed to be made by the Bill are as follows:

1   To amend the definition of ‘moneylender’ in s 2 of the Act to exclude a merchant bank which is an approved financial institution under s 28 of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act.

2   To empower the Registrar or an officer authorised by him to require a moneylender to provide information or document.

3   To empower the Registrar or an officer authorised by him to enter premises used by a moneylender to carry on business in order to inspect the premises and any document found on the premises.

4   To enable the Minister to revoke wholly or in part an exemption granted to a person from any provision of the Act if:

a   that person has contravened a condition of the exemption or a provision of the Act or any rules made thereunder; or

b   the Minister is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so.

     It is provided that the revocation of an exemption does not affect any moneylending transaction entered into before the date of such revocation.

5   To enable the Registrar to suspend a licence for such period as he considers appropriate instead of revoking it, and to enable the Registrar to suspend or revoke a licence for a contravention of rules made under the Act.

6   To enable the Minister to make rules for additional matters including the maximum amount that may be lent to a borrower or class or description of borrowers, the borrowers to whom a loan may be made and the conduct of the business of moneylending. In relation to the last matter, rules may in particular be made for the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing. Rules may be made to apply to any moneylender, whether licensed or exempted under the Act.

Elizabeth Wong

Allen & Gledhill