Section 31 — Offences by bodies corporate, etc.

(1)Where an offence under this Act or any subsidiary legislation made under this Act has been committed by a body corporate, every officer of the body corporate shall also be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly unless the officer proves that —

(a)the offence was committed without the consent or connivance of the officer; and

(b)the offence was not attributable to any neglect on the officer’s part.[47/2007; 22/2012]

(2)Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.[47/2007]

(3)Where an offence under this Act or any subsidiary legislation made under this Act has been committed by a partnership, each partner of the partnership shall also be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly unless the partner proves that —

(a)the offence was committed without the consent or connivance of the partner; and

(b)the offence was not attributable to any neglect on the partner’s part.[47/2007; 22/2012]

(4)Where an offence under this Act or any subsidiary legislation made under this Act has been committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), every officer of the unincorporated association and every member of its governing body shall also be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly unless the officer or member (as the case may be) proves that —

(a)the offence was committed without the consent or connivance of the officer of the unincorporated association or member of its governing body, as the case may be; and

(b)the offence was not attributable to any neglect on the part of that officer or member.[47/2007; 22/2012]

(5)In this section —“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership; “officer” —

(a)in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, Chief Executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or

(b)in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; “partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.[47/2007]

(6)The Minister may make regulations providing for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.[47/2007]