Division 1 — Production orders
Production orders
36.—(1) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of an investigation into drug dealing or criminal conduct (as the case may be), apply to a court for an order under subsection (3) in relation to particular material or material of a particular description.[21/2014]
(2) This section does not apply to any material in the possession of a financial institution.
(3) Subject to section 49(14), the court may, if on such an application it is satisfied that the conditions to subsection (5) are fulfilled, make an order that the person who appears to the court to be in possession of the material to which the application relates must —(a)
produce the material to an authorised officer for him or her to take away; or
(b)
give an authorised officer access to it,
within such period as the order may specify.
(4) The period to be specified in an order under subsection (3) is 7 days unless it appears to the court that a longer or shorter period would be appropriate in the particular circumstances of the application.
(5) The conditions mentioned in subsection (3) are —(a)
that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a specified person has carried on or has benefited from drug dealing or from criminal conduct, as the case may be;
(b)
that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the material to which the application relates —(i)
is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation for the purpose of which the application is made; and
(ii)
does not consist of or include items subject to legal privilege; and
(c)
that there are reasonable grounds for believing that it is in the public interest, having regard —(i)
to the benefit likely to accrue to the investigation if the material is obtained; and
(ii)
to the circumstances under which the person in possession of the material holds it,
that the material should be produced or that access to it should be given.
[21/2014]
(6) Where a court makes an order under subsection (3)(b) in relation to material on any premises, it may, on the same or a subsequent application of an authorised officer, order any person who appears to the authorised officer to be entitled to grant entry to the premises to allow an authorised officer to enter the premises to obtain access to the material.
(7) Rules of Court may provide for —(a)
the discharge and variation of orders under this section; and
(b)
proceedings relating to such orders.
(8) Where the material, to which an application under this section relates, consists of information contained in or accessible by means of any data equipment —(a)
an order under subsection (3)(a) has effect as an order to produce the material in a form in which it can be taken away and in which it is visible and legible; and
(b)
an order under subsection (3)(b) has effect as an order to give access to the material in a form in which it is visible and legible.
(9) In subsection (8), “data equipment” means any equipment which —(a)
automatically processes information;
(b)
automatically records or stores information;
(c)
can be used to cause information to be automatically recorded, stored or otherwise processed on other equipment (wherever situated); or
(d)
can be used to retrieve information whether the information is recorded or stored in the equipment itself or in other equipment (wherever situated).
(10) An order under subsection (3) —(a)
does not confer any right to production of, or access to, items subject to legal privilege;
(b)
has effect despite any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by statute or otherwise; and
(c)
may be made in relation to material in the possession of a public body as defined in section 49(15).
(11) A person is not excused from producing or making available any material when required to do so by an order under this section on the ground that —(a)
the production or making available of the material might tend to incriminate the person or make the person liable to a penalty; or
(b)
the production or making available of the material would be in breach of an obligation (whether imposed by law or otherwise) of the person not to disclose the existence or contents of the material.
(12) Where a person produces or makes available any material pursuant to an order under this section, the production or making available of the material, or any information or thing obtained as a direct or indirect consequence of the production or making available of the material is not admissible against the person in any criminal proceedings except a proceeding for an offence against section 39(1).
(13) For the purposes of subsection (1), proceedings on an application for a restraint order or a confiscation order are not criminal proceedings.
(14) An authorised officer may exercise the powers conferred on him or her by this section despite any other written law relating to the production of, or the giving of any access to, any particular material or material of a particular description.[30
[2/2012]
Production orders against financial institution to produce material relating to drug dealing or criminal conduct
37.—(1) The Public Prosecutor or any person duly authorised by the Public Prosecutor in writing may, for the purpose of an investigation into a drug dealing offence or a serious offence (as the case may be), apply to the General Division of the High Court for an order under subsection (2) in relation to any particular material or material of a particular description.[15/2010; 21/2014; 40/2019]
(2) The General Division of the High Court may, if on such an application it is satisfied that the conditions mentioned in subsection (3) are fulfilled, make an order that the financial institution which appears to the General Division of the High Court to be in possession of the material to which the application relates must —(a)
produce the material to the Public Prosecutor or the person duly authorised by the Public Prosecutor for the Public Prosecutor or such person to take away; or
(b)
give the Public Prosecutor or the person duly authorised by the Public Prosecutor access to the material,
within a reasonable period, but not less than 7 days, as the order may specify.
[15/2010; 40/2019]
(3) The conditions mentioned in subsection (2) are —(a)
that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a specified person has carried on or has benefited from drug dealing or criminal conduct, as the case may be;
(b)
that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the material to which the application relates —(i)
is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation for the purpose of which the application is made; and
(ii)
does not consist of or include items subject to legal privilege; and
(c)
that there are reasonable grounds for believing that it is in the public interest to produce the material to which the application relates.[21/2014]
(4) A financial institution which complies with an order made under subsection (2) is not to be treated as being in breach of any restriction upon the disclosure of information or material imposed by law, contract or rules of professional conduct.
(5) No action shall lie against a financial institution which in good faith produces materials or gives access to materials relating to the account of its customer by reason of that financial institution having produced or given access to the materials in compliance with an order made against it under subsection (2) or any act done or omitted to be done in relation to any funds, investment or property in the account of that customer in consequence of the production of or access to those materials.
(6) In subsection (5), each reference to a customer of a financial institution is, if the financial institution is a VCC, a reference to its member.[44/2018]
(7) The proceedings for an application for a production order under this section are to be heard in private.[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(8) The Public Prosecutor or the person duly authorised by the Public Prosecutor may exercise the powers conferred on the Public Prosecutor or the person (as the case may be) by this section despite any other written law relating to the production of, or the giving of any access to, any particular material or material of a particular description.[31
[2/2012]
Variation of production order
38.—(1) Where a court makes a production order requiring a person to produce any material to any authorised officer, the person may apply to the court for a variation of the order.
(2) If the court is satisfied that the material is essential to the business activities of the person, the court may vary the production order mentioned in subsection (1) so that it requires the person to make the material available to an authorised officer for inspection.[32
Failure to comply with production order
39.—(1) Where a person is required by a production order to produce any material to an authorised officer or make any material available to an authorised officer for inspection, the person shall be guilty of an offence under this section if the person —(a)
contravenes the order without reasonable excuse; or
(b)
in purported compliance with the order produces or makes available any material known to the person to be false or misleading in a material particular without —(i)
indicating to the authorised officer to whom the material is produced or made available that the material is false or misleading and the respect in which the material is false or misleading; and
(ii)
providing correct information to the authorised officer if the person is in possession of, or can reasonably acquire, the correct information.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.[33
Division 2 — Search powers
Authority for search
40.—(1) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of an investigation into drug dealing or criminal conduct (as the case may be), apply to a court for a warrant under this section in relation to specified premises.[21/2014]
(2) On such application, the court may issue a warrant authorising an authorised officer to enter and search the premises if the court is satisfied that —(a)
an order made under section 36 or 37 in relation to material on the premises has not been complied with;
(b)
the conditions in subsection (3) are fulfilled; or
(c)
the conditions in subsection (4) are fulfilled.
(3) The conditions mentioned in subsection (2)(b) are —(a)
that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a specified person has carried on or has benefited from drug dealing or from criminal conduct, as the case may be; and
(b)
that the conditions in section 36(5)(b) and (c) or 37(3)(b) and (c) are fulfilled in relation to any material on the premises.[21/2014]
(4) The conditions mentioned in subsection (2)(c) are —(a)
that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a specified person has carried on or has benefited from drug dealing or from criminal conduct, as the case may be; and
(b)
that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is on the premises material relating to the specified person or to drug dealing or criminal conduct (as the case may be) which is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation for the purpose of which the application is made, but that the material cannot at the time of the application be particularised.[21/2014]
(5) Where an authorised officer has entered any premises in the execution of a warrant issued under this section, he or she may seize and retain any material, other than items subject to legal privilege, which is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation for the purpose of which the warrant was issued.
(6) Any person who hinders or obstructs an authorised officer in the execution of a warrant issued under this section 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 2 years or to both.[34
Supplementary provisions to sections 36, 38 and 40
41.—(1) An authorised officer may photograph or make copies of any material —(a)
produced or to which access is given under section 36; or
(b)
seized under section 40.
(2) In sections 36, 38 and 40 —“court” means the General Division of the High Court and the District Court;
“premises” includes any place and, in particular, includes —(a)
any vehicle, vessel, aircraft, hovercraft or offshore structure; and
(b)
any tent or movable structure.[35
[21/2014; 40/2019]
Division 3 — Record-keeping and suspicious transaction reports
Interpretation of this Division
42.—(1) In this Division —“financial transaction document”, in relation to a financial institution, means any document that relates to a financial transaction carried out by the institution in its capacity as a financial institution, and includes but is not limited to a document that relates to —(a)
the opening or closing by a person of an account with the institution;
(b)
the operation by a person of an account with the institution;
(c)
the opening or use by a person of a deposit box held by the institution;
(d)
the telegraphic or electronic transfer of funds by the institution on behalf of a person to another person;
(e)
the transmission of funds between Singapore and a foreign country or between foreign countries on behalf of a person;
(f)
an application by a person for a loan from the institution (where a loan is made to the person pursuant to the application); or
(g)
records of customer identification, or if the institution is a VCC, records of identification of its members;
“minimum retention period”, in relation to a financial transaction document of a financial institution, means —(a)
if the document relates to the opening of an account with the institution, the period of 5 years after the day on which the account is closed;
(b)
if the document relates to the opening by a person of a deposit box held by the institution, the period of 5 years after the day on which the deposit box ceases to be used by the person; or
(c)
in any other case, the period of 5 years after the day on which the transaction takes place.[2/2007; 44/2018]
(2) In sections 43 and 44, a reference to a copy includes a copy retained in the form of microfilm, microfiche, electronic records in accordance with section 9(1) of the Electronic Transactions Act 2010 or such other form as the Monetary Authority of Singapore may approve.[36
Retention of records by financial institutions
43.—(1) A financial institution must retain, or retain a copy of, each financial transaction document for the minimum retention period applicable to the document.
(2) A financial institution required to retain documents under this section must retain and store them in a manner that makes retrieval of the documents reasonably practicable.
(3) A financial institution that contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
(4) This section does not limit any other obligation of a financial institution to retain documents.[37
Register of original documents
44.—(1) Where a financial institution is required by law to release an original of a financial transaction document before the end of the minimum retention period applicable to the document, the institution must retain a complete copy of the document until the period has ended or the original is returned, whichever occurs first.
(2) The financial institution must maintain a register of documents released under subsection (1).
(3) A financial institution that contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.[38
Duty to disclose knowledge or suspicion
45.—(1) Where a person knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect that any property —(a)
in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, represents the proceeds of;
(b)
was used in connection with; or
(c)
is intended to be used in connection with,
any act which may constitute drug dealing or criminal conduct (as the case may be) and the information or matter on which the knowledge or suspicion is based came to the person’s attention in the course of the person’s trade, profession, business or employment, the person must disclose the knowledge or suspicion or the information or other matter on which that knowledge or suspicion is based to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer as soon as is reasonably practicable after it comes to the person’s attention.
[44/2007; 21/2014]
(2) To avoid doubt, where the property mentioned in subsection (1) is the subject of a transaction, the person mentioned in that subsection must make the disclosure mentioned in that subsection regardless of whether the transaction was completed.[2/2012]
(3) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —(a)
if the person is an individual, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both; or
(b)
if the person is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding $500,000.[51/2018]
(4) The Minister may, by regulations, prescribe requirements for any person or class of persons in relation to the circumstances, manner and means of disclosure required under subsection (1).
(5) Nothing in subsection (1) or (3) makes it an offence —(a)
for an advocate and solicitor, or an interpreter or other person who works under the supervision of an advocate and solicitor, to fail to disclose any information or other matter which is an item subject to legal privilege;
(b)
for a legal counsel acting as such for his or her employer, or an interpreter or other person who works under the supervision of the legal counsel, to fail to disclose any information or other matter concerning the employer which is an item subject to legal privilege; or
(c)
for an arbitrator to fail to disclose any information or other matter which came to the arbitrator’s attention in the course of any arbitral proceedings in which the arbitrator acted as an arbitrator.[21/2014]
(6) It is a defence to a charge of committing an offence under this section that the person charged had a reasonable excuse for not disclosing the information or other matter in question.
(7) Where a person discloses in good faith to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer —(a)
the person’s knowledge or suspicion of the matters referred to in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c); or
(b)
any information or other matter on which that knowledge or suspicion is based,
the disclosure is not to be treated as a breach of any restriction upon the disclosure imposed by law, contract or rules of professional conduct and the person shall not be liable for any loss arising out of the disclosure or any act or omission in consequence of the disclosure.
[44/2007]
(8) Without affecting subsection (6) or (7), in the case of a person who was in employment at the time in question, it is a defence to a charge of committing an offence under this section that the person disclosed the information or other matter in question to the appropriate person in accordance with the procedure established by the person’s employer for the making of such disclosures.
(9) A disclosure to which subsection (8) applies is not to be treated as a breach of any restriction imposed by law, contract or rules of professional conduct.
(10) Despite section 77 and any other written law or rule of law, where a regulated person has disclosed under subsection (1) any thing to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer, that Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer (or any other Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer) may, in order to enable the specified regulator of the regulated person to carry out any of its functions or duties, communicate that thing disclosed by the regulated person to the regulated person’s specified regulator.[Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024]
(11) In this section —“regulated person”, in relation to a specified regulator, means any person who is approved, authorised, designated, recognised, registered, licensed or otherwise regulated by the specified regulator under any written law, and that is either —(a)
prescribed as a regulated person of that specified regulator; or
(b)
a member of a class of persons prescribed as regulated persons of that specified regulator;
“specified regulator” means —(a)
any ministry, department or Organ of State of the Government, or a public officer of any ministry, department or Organ of State of the Government; or
(b)
a public authority established under any public Act for a public purpose or an officer or employee of the public authority,
that is prescribed as a specified regulator.
[39
[Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024]
Protection where information given under section 45
46. Where a person or an officer, employee or agent of a person, gives information under subsection (1) of section 45 as soon as practicable after having the knowledge mentioned in that subsection, the person or officer, employee or agent of the person is to be taken, for the purposes of sections 50, 51, 53, 54 and 55A, not to have been in possession of that information at any time.[40
[Act 15 of 2023 wef 08/02/2024]
Information and identity of informers not to be disclosed
47.—(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) —(a)
information disclosed by an informer must not be admitted in evidence in any civil or criminal proceedings; and
(b)
no witness in any civil or criminal proceedings is obliged —(i)
to disclose the name and address of any informer; or
(ii)
to answer any question if the answer thereto would lead, or would tend to lead, to the discovery of the name or address of the informer.[44/2007]
(2) If any book, document or paper which is in evidence or liable to inspection in any civil or criminal proceedings contains any entry in which any informer is named or described or which may lead to the informer’s discovery, the court is to cause those entries to be concealed from view or to be obliterated so far as may be necessary to protect the informer from discovery.[44/2007]
(3) If a court —(a)
in any proceedings before it for an offence under any written law, after full inquiry into the case, is satisfied that an informer wilfully made a material statement which the informer knew or believed to be false or did not believe to be true; or
(b)
in any other proceedings, is of the opinion that justice cannot be fully done between the parties to the proceedings without the disclosure of the name of an informer,
the court may permit inquiry and require full disclosure concerning the informer.
[44/2007]
(4) In this section, “informer” means a person who makes a disclosure pursuant to a requirement under section 5(3) or pursuant to section 45(1).[40A
[44/2007; 21/2014]
Communication of information to foreign authority
48.—(1) Despite section 77 and any other written law or rule of law, a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer may communicate any thing —(a)
disclosed to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer pursuant to a requirement under section 5(3) or pursuant to section 45(1);
(b)
given to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 60(4) or 62(4);
(c)
forwarded to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 61;
(d)
submitted to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 68(1);
(e)
filed with the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under any regulations made under section 200 of the Casino Control Act 2006;
(f)
submitted to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 17 of the Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Proliferation Financing) Act 2019; or[Act 6 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024]
(g)
submitted to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 74A of the Pawnbrokers Act 2015,
to a corresponding authority of a foreign country if —
(h)
that thing may be relevant to an investigation by that authority into a foreign drug dealing offence or a foreign serious offence; and
(i)
the conditions in subsection (2) are satisfied.[44/2007; 21/2014; 7/2019]
(2) The conditions mentioned in subsection (1) are as follows:(a)
there exists an arrangement, or an international arrangement, under which the corresponding authority of the foreign country has agreed, or the corresponding authority of the foreign country has given an undertaking, to communicate to Singapore, upon Singapore’s request, information received by the corresponding authority that corresponds to any thing required to be disclosed, given, forwarded or submitted to, or filed with, a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer pursuant to a requirement under section 5(3) or under section 45(1) or any of the provisions mentioned in subsection (1)(b) to (g), or required to be given to an immigration officer under section 60(4);
(b)
the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer is satisfied —(i)
in any case where there exists an international arrangement mentioned in paragraph (a), that the corresponding authority has given appropriate undertakings under or in accordance with the international arrangement —(A)
for protecting the confidentiality of any thing communicated to the corresponding authority; and
(B)
for controlling the use that will be made of that thing, including an undertaking that the thing will not be used as evidence in any proceedings; or
(ii)
in any other case, that the corresponding authority has given appropriate undertakings —(A)
for protecting the confidentiality of any thing communicated to the corresponding authority; and
(B)
for controlling the use that will be made of that thing, including an undertaking that the thing will not be used as evidence in any proceedings;
(c)
such other conditions as the Minister may prescribe.[44/2007; 21/2014; 51/2018; 7/2019]
(3) In this section —“corresponding authority”, in relation to a foreign country, means the authority of that foreign country responsible for receiving information that corresponds to any thing required to be disclosed to an authorised officer under section 45(1);
“international arrangement” means an arrangement for cooperation in accordance with the rules or by‑laws of, or any principles or guidelines issued by, any prescribed international organisation, and to which the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office mentioned in section 5 and the corresponding authority of a foreign country are parties.[41
[44/2007; 51/2018; 7/2019]
Division 4 — Disclosure of information held by public bodies
Disclosure of information held by public bodies
49.—(1) Subject to subsection (6), the General Division of the High Court may, on an application by the Public Prosecutor, order any material mentioned in subsection (4) which is in the possession of a public body to be produced to the General Division of the High Court within such period as the General Division of the High Court may specify.[40/2019]
(2) The power to make an order under subsection (1) is exercisable if —(a)
the powers conferred on the General Division of the High Court by sections 19(1) and 20(1) are exercisable by virtue of section 18(1); or
(b)
those powers are exercisable by virtue of section 18(2) and the General Division of the High Court has made a restraint or charging order which has not been discharged.[40/2019]
(3) Where the power to make an order under subsection (1) is exercisable by virtue only of subsection (2)(b), section 18(4) applies for the purposes of this section as it applies for the purposes of sections 19 and 20.
(4) The material mentioned in subsection (1) is any material which —(a)
has been submitted to an officer of a public body by the defendant or by a person who has at any time held property which was realisable property;
(b)
has been made by an officer of a public body in relation to the defendant or such a person; or
(c)
is correspondence which passed between an officer of a public body and the defendant or such a person.
(5) An order under subsection (1) may require the production of all material mentioned in subsection (4), or of a particular description of such material, being material in the possession of the body concerned.
(6) An order under subsection (1) is not to require the production of any material unless it appears to the General Division of the High Court that the material is likely to contain information that would facilitate the exercise of the powers conferred on the General Division of the High Court by section 19, 20 or 22 or on a receiver appointed under section 19 or 22 or pursuant to a charging order.[40/2019]
(7) The General Division of the High Court may, by order, authorise the disclosure to such a receiver of any material produced under subsection (1) or any part of such material.[40/2019]
(8) The General Division of the High Court is not to make an order under subsection (7) unless a reasonable opportunity has been given for an officer of the public body to make representations to the General Division of the High Court.[40/2019]
(9) Material disclosed pursuant to an order under subsection (7) may, subject to any conditions contained in the order, be further disclosed for the purposes of the functions under this Act of the receiver or the General Division of the High Court.[40/2019]
(10) The General Division of the High Court may, by order, authorise the disclosure to an authorised officer of any material produced under subsection (1) or any part of such material.[40/2019]
(11) The General Division of the High Court is not to make an order under subsection (10) unless —(a)
a reasonable opportunity has been given for an officer of the public body to make representations to the General Division of the High Court; and
(b)
it appears to the General Division of the High Court that the material is likely to be of substantial value in exercising functions relating to drug dealing or criminal conduct, as the case may be.[21/2014; 40/2019]
(12) Material disclosed pursuant to an order under subsection (10) may, subject to any conditions contained in the order, be further disclosed for the purposes of functions relating to drug dealing or criminal conduct, as the case may be.[21/2014]
(13) Material may be produced or disclosed pursuant to this section despite any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by statute or otherwise.
(14) An order under subsection (1) and, in the case of material in the possession of a public body, an order under section 36(3) may require any officer of the public body (whether named in the order or not) who may for the time being be in possession of the material concerned to comply with it, and such an order must be served as if the proceedings were civil proceedings against the Government.
(15) In this section, “public body” means —(a)
any Ministry or Government department; and
(b)
any body specified by the Minister by notification in the Gazette to be a public body for the purposes of this section.[42
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
