s 45 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]