Offences by corporations
60.—(1) Where, in a proceeding for an offence under this Act, it is necessary to prove the state of mind of a corporation in relation to a particular conduct, evidence that —(a)
an officer, employee or agent of the corporation engaged in that conduct within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and
(b)
the officer, employee or agent had that state of mind,
is evidence that the corporation had that state of mind.
(2) Where a corporation commits an offence under this Act, a person —(a)
who is —(i)
an officer of the corporation, or a member of a corporation whose affairs are managed by its members; or
(ii)
an individual who is involved in the management of the corporation and is in a position to influence the conduct of the corporation in relation to the commission of the offence; and
(b)
who —(i)
consented or connived, or conspired with others, to effect the commission of the offence;
(ii)
is in any other way, whether by act or omission, knowingly concerned in, or is party to, the commission of the offence by the corporation; or
(iii)
knew or ought reasonably to have known that the offence by the corporation (or an offence of the same type) would be or is being committed, and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent or stop the commission of that offence,
shall (if this is not already an offence under section 62(1)) be guilty of the same offence as is the corporation, and shall be liable on conviction to be punished accordingly.
(3) A person mentioned in subsection (2) may rely on a defence that would be available to the corporation if it were charged with the offence with which the person is charged and, in doing so, the person bears the same burden of proof that the corporation would bear.
(4) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the application of —(a)
Chapters 5 and 5A of the Penal Code 1871; or
(b)
the Evidence Act 1893 or any other law or practice regarding the admissibility of evidence.
(5) To avoid doubt, subsection (2) also does not affect the liability of the corporation for an offence under this Act, and applies whether or not the corporation is convicted of the offence.
(6) In this section —“corporation” includes a limited liability partnership within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
“officer”, in relation to a corporation, means any director, partner, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the corporation, and includes —(a)
any person purporting to act in any such capacity; and
(b)
for a corporation whose affairs are managed by its members, any of those members as if the member were a director of the corporation;
“state of mind” of a person includes —(a)
the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person; and
(b)
the person’s reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.
Offences by unincorporated associations or partnerships
61.—(1) Where, in a proceeding for an offence under this Act, it is necessary to prove the state of mind of an unincorporated association or a partnership in relation to a particular conduct, evidence that —(a)
an employee or agent of the unincorporated association of the partnership engaged in that conduct within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and
(b)
the employee or agent had that state of mind,
is evidence that the unincorporated association or partnership had that state of mind.
(2) Where an unincorporated association or a partnership commits an offence under this Act, a person —(a)
who is —(i)
an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body;
(ii)
a partner in the partnership; or
(iii)
an individual who is involved in the management of the unincorporated association or partnership and is in a position to influence the conduct of the unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be) in relation to the commission of the offence; and
(b)
who —(i)
consented or connived, or conspired with others, to effect the commission of the offence;
(ii)
is in any other way, whether by act or omission, knowingly concerned in, or is party to, the commission of the offence by the unincorporated association or partnership; or
(iii)
knew or ought reasonably to have known that the offence by the unincorporated association or partnership (or an offence of the same type) would be or is being committed, and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent or stop the commission of that offence,
shall be guilty of the same offence as is the unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be), and shall be liable on conviction to be punished accordingly.
(3) A person mentioned in subsection (2) may rely on a defence that would be available to the unincorporated association or partnership if it were charged with the offence with which the person is charged and, in doing so, the person bears the same burden of proof that the unincorporated association or partnership would bear.
(4) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the application of —(a)
Chapters 5 and 5A of the Penal Code 1871; or
(b)
the Evidence Act 1893 or any other law or practice regarding the admissibility of evidence.
(5) To avoid doubt, subsection (2) also does not affect the liability of an unincorporated association or a partnership for an offence under this Act, and applies whether or not the unincorporated association or partnership is convicted of the offence.
(6) In this section —“officer”, 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, and includes —(a)
any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee of the unincorporated association; and
(b)
any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner;
“state of mind” of a person includes —(a)
the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person; and
(b)
the person’s reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.
Offences by officers
62.—(1) Any officer of a licensed credit bureau whose duty is or includes ensuring that the licensed credit bureau complies with a provision of this Act, who fails to take all reasonable steps to secure such compliance, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
(2) Any officer of a licensed credit bureau whose duty is or includes submitting information to the Authority or any other person under this Act, who fails to take all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy and correctness of any information so submitted, shall (if such failure is not already an offence under section 64(1) or (2)) be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
(3) In any proceedings against an officer under subsection (1) or (2), it is a defence for the officer to prove that he or she had reasonable grounds for believing that —(a)
another individual was charged with the duty of —(i)
securing compliance with the requirements of this Act; or
(ii)
ensuring that the information submitted was accurate,
as the case may be; and
(b)
that individual was competent, and in a position, to discharge that duty.
(4) An officer is not to be sentenced to imprisonment for any offence under subsection (1) or (2) unless, in the opinion of the court, he or she committed the offence wilfully.
Falsification of records by officers, etc.
63.—(1) Any officer, auditor, employee or agent of a licensed credit bureau who —(a)
wilfully makes, or causes to be made, a false entry in any book, or in any report, slip, document or statement of the business, affairs, transactions, conditions or assets of that licensed credit bureau;
(b)
wilfully omits to make an entry in any book, or in any report, slip, document or statement of the business, affairs, transactions, conditions or assets of that licensed credit bureau, or wilfully causes any such entry to be omitted; or
(c)
wilfully alters, extracts, conceals or destroys an entry in any book, or in any report, slip, document or statement of the business, affairs, transactions, conditions or assets of that licensed credit bureau, or wilfully causes any such entry to be altered, extracted, concealed or destroyed,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $125,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
(2) In subsection (1), “officer” includes a person purporting to act in the capacity of an officer.
Duty to use reasonable care not to provide false information to Authority
64.—(1) Any individual who provides the Authority with any information under or for the purposes of any provision of this Act must use reasonable care to ensure that the information is not false or misleading in any material particular.
(2) Any individual who —(a)
signs any document lodged with the Authority; or
(b)
lodges with the Authority any document by electronic means using any identification or identifying code, password or other authentication method or procedure assigned to him or her by the Authority,
must use reasonable care to ensure that the document is not false or misleading in any material particular.
(3) Any individual who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall (if the provision of such information, or the signing or lodging of such document, that is false or misleading in a material particular is not already an offence under any other provision of this Act) be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $125,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
General penalty
65. Any person guilty of an offence under this Act for which no penalty is expressly provided shall be liable on conviction —(a)
in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $50,000; or
(b)
in any other case, to a fine not exceeding $100,000.
Composition of offences
66.—(1) The Authority may compound any offence under this Act that is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding half of the amount of the maximum fine prescribed for that offence.
(2) The Authority may compound any offence under this Act (including an offence under a provision that has been repealed) that —(a)
was compoundable under this section when the offence was committed; but
(b)
has ceased to be so compoundable,
by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding half of the amount of the maximum fine prescribed for that offence at the time it was committed.
(3) On payment of the sum of money mentioned in subsection (1) or (2), no further proceedings are to be taken against that person in respect of the offence.
(4) All sums collected by the Authority under subsection (1) or (2) must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
The Singapore legislation on this platform is subject to copyright of the Singapore Government and is used/reproduced for the purposes of this platform with the permission of the Attorney-General's Chambers. Users of this platform may check Singapore Statutes Online for the latest version of the Singapore legislation.
