Registration of charities
Open ↗7.—(1) The Commissioner must continue to keep a register of charities in which must be entered the particulars that he or she may determine of any charity registered therein.
(2) There must be entered in the register every charity not excepted by subsection (6); and a charity so excepted —(a)
may be entered in the register at the request of the charity; but
(b)
whether or not it was excepted at the time of registration, may at any time, and must at the request of the charity, be removed from the register.
(3) Any institution which no longer appears to the Commissioner to be a charity must be removed from the register with effect, where the removal is due to any change in its purposes or governing instruments, from the date of that change; and there must also be removed from the register any charity which ceases to exist or does not operate.[34/2010]
(4) The Commissioner must refuse to register an institution as a charity —(a)
if it appears to the Commissioner that the registration of the institution will be contrary to the public interest; or
(b)
on any other ground that the Minister may prescribe.
(5) The Commissioner must remove an institution from the register of charities —(a)
if it appears to the Commissioner that the continued registration of the institution as a charity is contrary to the public interest; or
(b)
on any other ground that the Minister may prescribe.
(6) The following charities are not required to be registered:(a)
any charity specified in the Schedule; and
(b)
any charity which is excepted by regulations made under this Act.
(7) Any application to the Commissioner for a charity to be registered must be accompanied with copies of its governing instruments (or, if any provisions of the governing instruments are not set out in any document, particulars of them) and any other documents or information that the Commissioner may require for the purpose of the application.[34/2010]
(8) It is the duty of —(a)
the governing board members of any charity which is not registered nor excepted from registration to apply for it to be registered, and to supply the documents and information required by subsection (7), within 3 months after its establishment or such longer period as the Commissioner may allow; and
(b)
the governing board members (or last governing board members) of any institution which is for the time being registered to notify the Commissioner if it ceases to exist, or if there is any change in its governing instruments, or in its particulars entered in the register, and to furnish the Commissioner with particulars of any such change and copies of any new governing instruments or alterations of the governing instruments, within 7 days after such cessation or change or such longer period as the Commissioner may allow,
and any person who makes default in carrying out any of the duties imposed by this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction, and the Commissioner may by order require that person to make good that default.
[34/2010; 2/2018]
(9) Where the governing instrument of a registered charity requires the prior approval of the Commissioner for any amendment to the governing instrument and the Commissioner has delegated his or her power to grant such approval to a Sector Administrator under section 42(1)(e), that requirement is deemed to apply as if it required the prior approval of the Sector Administrator (instead of the Commissioner) for the amendment of the governing instrument.[34/2010]
(10) The register (including entries cancelled when institutions are removed from the register) must be open to public inspection at all reasonable times, except insofar as regulations otherwise provide.
(11) The register of charities may be prepared and kept in such manner as the Commissioner thinks fit, including in electronic form in a computer.
(12) Where any information contained in the register is not in documentary form, subsection (10) is to be construed as requiring the information to be available for public inspection in legible form at all reasonable times.[5
Effect of, and claims and objections to, registration
Open ↗8.—(1) An institution is, for all purposes other than rectification of the register, conclusively presumed to be or have been a charity at any time when it is or was on the register of charities.
(2) Any person who is or may be affected by the registration of an institution as a charity may, on the ground that it is not a charity, object to its being entered by the Commissioner in the register, or apply to the Commissioner for it to be removed from the register; and the objection or application must be made or dealt with in the manner prescribed by regulations made under this Act.
(3) An appeal against any decision of the Commissioner to enter or not to enter an institution in the register of charities, or to remove or not to remove an institution from the register, may be brought in the General Division of the High Court by the persons who are or claim to be the governing board members of the institution, or by any person whose objection or application under subsection (2) has been disallowed by the Commissioner; and a copy of every notice of such appeal must be transmitted to the Attorney‑General.[34/2010; 40/2019]
(4) If there is an appeal to the General Division of the High Court against any decision of the Commissioner to enter an institution in the register, or not to remove an institution from the register, then until the Commissioner is satisfied whether his or her decision is or is not to stand, the entry in the register is to be maintained, but is in suspense and marked to indicate that it is in suspense; and for the purposes of subsection (1) an institution is deemed not to be on the register during any period when the entry relating to it is in suspense under this subsection.[40/2019]
(5) Any question affecting the registration or removal from the register of an institution may, even though it has been determined by a decision on appeal under subsection (3), be considered afresh by the Commissioner and is not to be concluded by that decision, if it appears to the Commissioner that there has been a change of circumstances or that the decision is inconsistent with a later judicial decision, whether given on such an appeal or not.[6
Power of Commissioner to require change of charity’s name
Open ↗9.—(1) The Commissioner may, with respect to a charity to which this subsection applies, give a direction requiring the name of the charity to be changed, within the period specified in the direction, to any other name that the governing board members may determine with the Commissioner’s approval.[34/2010]
(2) Subsection (1) applies to a charity if —(a)
it is a registered charity and its name (called in this Act the registered name) is the same as, or is in the Commissioner’s opinion too like, the name, at the time when the registered name was entered in the register in respect of the charity, of any other charity (whether registered or not);
(b)
the name of the charity is in the Commissioner’s opinion likely to mislead the public as to the true nature of —(i)
the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing instruments; or
(ii)
the activities which the charity carries on under its governing instruments in pursuit of those purposes;
(c)
the name of the charity includes any word or expression which in the Commissioner’s opinion is likely to mislead the public in any respect as to the status of the charity;
(d)
the name of the charity is in the Commissioner’s opinion likely to give the impression that the charity is connected in some way with the Government or any public authority, or with any other body of persons or any individual, when it is not so connected; or
(e)
the name of the charity is in the Commissioner’s opinion offensive,
and any reference in this subsection to the name of a charity is, in relation to a registered charity, a reference to the name by which it is registered.
[34/2010]
(3) Any direction given by virtue of subsection (2)(a) must be given within 12 months of the time when the registered name was entered in the register in respect of the charity.
(4) Any direction given under this section with respect to a charity must be given to the governing board members; and on receiving any such direction the governing board members must give effect to it despite anything in the governing instruments of the charity.[34/2010]
(5) Where the name of any charity is changed under this section, it is the duty of the governing board members to notify the Commissioner, within 7 days after the change or such longer period as the Commissioner may allow, of the new name of the charity and of the date on which the change occurred.[34/2010]
(6) A change of name by a charity under this section does not affect any rights or obligations of the charity; and any legal proceedings that might have been continued or commenced by or against it in its former name may be continued or commenced by or against it in its new name.
(7) Any reference in this section to the governing board members of a charity is, in relation to a charity which is a company, to be read as a reference to the directors of the company.[34/2010]
(8) Where any direction is given under this section with respect to a charity which is a company, the direction is taken to require the directors of the company to take the necessary steps to effect the change of the name of the company, including applying to the Registrar of Companies for the reservation and approval of the new name under section 27 or 378 of the Companies Act 1967, as the case may be.
(9) Nothing in this section applies to an exempt charity.[7
General power of Commissioner to institute inquiries
Open ↗10.—(1) The Commissioner may from time to time institute inquiries with regard to charities or a particular charity or class of charities, either generally or for particular purposes.
(2) The Commissioner may either conduct such an inquiry personally or appoint a person to conduct it and make a report to the Commissioner.
(3) For the purposes of any such inquiry, the Commissioner or a person appointed by the Commissioner to conduct the inquiry may by order require any person —(a)
to furnish accounts and statements in writing with respect to any matter in question at the inquiry, being a matter on which that person has or can reasonably obtain information, or to return answers in writing to any questions or inquiries addressed to the person on any such matter, and to verify any such accounts, statements or answers by statutory declaration;
(b)
to furnish copies of documents in the person’s custody or under the person’s control which relate to any matter in question at the inquiry, and to verify any such copies by statutory declaration; and
(c)
to attend at a specified time and place and give evidence or produce any such documents,
and any person who fails to comply with any requirement specified in the order shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.
[2/2018]
(4) For the purposes of any such inquiry, evidence may be taken on oath, and the person conducting the inquiry may for that purpose administer oaths, or may instead of administering an oath require the person examined to make and subscribe a declaration of the truth of the matters about which the person is examined.
(5) Where the Commissioner proposes to take any action in consequence of an inquiry under this section, the Commissioner may publish the report of the person conducting the inquiry, or any other statement of the results of the inquiry as the Commissioner thinks fit, in any manner calculated in the Commissioner’s opinion to bring it to the attention of persons who may wish to make representations to the Commissioner about the action to be taken.
(6) A copy of the report of the person conducting an inquiry under this section is, if certified by the Commissioner to be a true copy, admissible as evidence of any fact stated in the report, and as evidence of the opinion of that person as to any matter referred to in the report, in any legal proceedings instituted by the Commissioner under section 23 and in any legal proceedings instituted by the Attorney‑General in respect of a charity.
(7) A document purporting to be a certificate issued for the purposes of subsection (6) is to be received in evidence and deemed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.
(8) If any person wilfully alters, suppresses, conceals or destroys any document which the person may be required to produce under this section, the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.[8
[2/2018]
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
