s 28 Control over finance companies in the acquisition of shares in companies
28.—(1) A finance company must not enter into an agreement to acquire the share capital of any company by virtue of which the finance company would, if the agreement is carried out, acquire or hold, directly or indirectly, an interest of 20% or more of the share capital of that company (or in the case of an umbrella VCC, either 20% or more of the share capital in the umbrella VCC that is not in respect of any of its sub-funds, or 20% or more of the share capital in the umbrella VCC in respect of any one of its sub-funds), without first notifying the Authority of its intention to enter into the agreement and obtaining the approval of the Authority to its entering into the agreement.[S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] (2) The Authority may approve the entering into the agreement with or without conditions or may disapprove it without giving any reasons. (3) Subsection (1) does not apply to an agreement by virtue of which the finance company would acquire an interest of 20% or more of the share capital in a company (or in the case of an umbrella VCC, either 20% or more of the share capital in the umbrella VCC that is not in respect of any of its sub-funds, or 20% or more of the share capital in the umbrella VCC in respect of any one of its sub-funds) by way of enforcement of security to satisfy debts due to it by the company if, upon making the acquisition, the finance company obtains the approval of the Authority to retain the shareholdings as an investment.[S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] (4) If the Authority does not grant approval under subsection (3), the finance company must dispose of the shareholdings at the earliest opportunity. (5) In this section, “company” means a company whether incorporated in Singapore or elsewhere, and includes a VCC.[S 26/2022 wef 13/01/2022] (6) A finance company which contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000.