Singapore legislation
Section 43
Section 43
Funds from foreign source for purposes of certain broadcasting service
(1)
Subject to this section, a person must not, without the prior consent of the Authority, receive any fund from any foreign source for the purposes of financing, directly or indirectly, wholly or partly, any broadcasting service owned or operated by any broadcasting company.
(2)
The Authority may grant its consent under subsection (1) if it is satisfied, on any information that it may require to be provided to it, that the fund from a foreign source is intended for bona fide commercial purposes.
(3)
Despite subsection (1), where any fund from a foreign source is sent to a person without the person’s prior knowledge, consent or solicitation and the fund is intended for or given by the sender for any purpose mentioned in that subsection, that person must, within 7 days of receiving the fund, report to the Authority the circumstances and particulars of the receipt of the fund and the purpose for which the fund was received.
(4)
Where any fund from a foreign source has been received by a person for any purpose mentioned in subsection (1) and the Authority refuses to grant consent to retain the fund, the person must, within the time that is specified by the Authority, return the fund to its sender or, if the sender cannot be traced, donate the fund to any charity specified by the Authority.
(5)
Any employee of a broadcasting company who, having received any fund from a foreign source for the broadcasting of any item or programme or for adopting a particular line or bias in respect of any item or programme, fails to report in writing, within 7 days of receiving the fund, to the company’s chief executive shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to the same penalty prescribed by subsection (8).
(6)
For the purposes of subsection (5), any fund received from outside Singapore by an employee is presumed to be from a foreign source until the contrary is proved.
(7)
Nothing in this section applies to any dealing by any person in the shares of a broadcasting company quoted on a stock exchange in Singapore.
(8)
Any person who contravenes subsection (1), (3) or (4) 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 3 years or to both, and the court may, in addition to any other penalty that it may impose, order the forfeiture to the Authority of any fund which is the subject of the charge.
(9)
In this section and section 44 —
Definition
“foreign source” includes —
the government of a country outside Singapore or the agent of that government, whether resident in Singapore or otherwise;
any company, association or society incorporated or constituted under any law in force outside Singapore, whether or not it has a branch office or place of business in Singapore;
any person who is not a citizen of Singapore, whether or not he or she is resident in Singapore;
any —
body corporate formed or incorporated in Singapore, one or more of whose members or directors are not citizens of Singapore, or in the case of a member being another company, where one or more of the members or directors of that company are not citizens of Singapore; or
unincorporated association or body constituted under any law in force in Singapore, one or more of whose members or directors are not citizens of Singapore, or in the case of a member being another company, where one or more of the members or directors of that company are not citizens of Singapore,as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare to be a foreign source; or
any other source outside Singapore that the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare to be a foreign source;
Definition
“fund” means money, securities, movable or immovable property or other valuable consideration;
Definition
“fund from a foreign source” includes any fund provided by a foreign source indirectly through any agent of the foreign source.