Singapore legislation
Section 83
Section 83
Inspection by foreign regulatory authority
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this section, a foreign regulatory authority may, with the prior written approval of the Authority and under conditions of secrecy, conduct an inspection in Singapore of the books of a specified financial adviser in respect of its business of providing any financial advisory service.
(2)
Where —
the specified financial adviser is an exempt financial adviser referred to in section 20(1)(a) or (d); and
the foreign regulatory authority has already obtained the approval of the Authority under section 45 of the Banking Act 1970 or section 150B of the Securities and Futures Act 2001 to conduct an inspection under that provision,then the foreign regulatory authority is treated as having obtained the Authority’s written approval under subsection (1).
(3)
In deciding whether to grant approval to a foreign regulatory authority under subsection (1), the Authority may have regard to the following considerations:
whether the inspection, and the information to be obtained from the inspection, is required by the foreign regulatory authority to enable the foreign regulatory authority to carry out its regulatory functions;
whether the foreign regulatory authority has regulatory oversight in its jurisdiction of the specified financial adviser;
whether the foreign regulatory authority is prohibited by the laws applicable to it from disclosing information obtained by it from the inspection to any other person;
whether the foreign regulatory authority has provided or is willing to provide similar assistance to the Authority;
such other matters as the Authority may consider relevant.
(4)
A foreign regulatory authority which obtained an approval for an inspection under subsection (1) may, with the prior written approval of the Authority, request or appoint any of the following persons to conduct the inspection:
either —
where the specified financial adviser is incorporated outside Singapore, the auditors of the head office of the specified financial adviser; or
where the specified financial adviser is incorporated in Singapore —
in a case where the specified financial adviser has a parent company, the auditors of the parent company; or
in any other case, the auditors of the specified financial adviser;
such other person as the foreign regulatory authority thinks fit.
(5)
Despite subsection (1), the Authority may at any time, whether before, on or after giving written approval for an inspection under subsection (1), impose conditions or restrictions on the foreign regulatory authority relating to any of the following:
the class or classes of information to which the foreign regulatory authority may or may not have access in the course of the inspection;
the conduct of the inspection;
the use or disclosure of any information obtained in the course of the inspection;
such other matters as the Authority thinks fit.
(6)
The Authority may, in relation to an inspection by a foreign regulatory authority, at any time, by written notice to the specified financial adviser concerned, impose such conditions or restrictions on the specified financial adviser as it thinks fit, and the specified financial adviser must comply with such conditions or restrictions.
(7)
Subsections (5) and (6) apply as if a reference to the foreign regulatory authority includes a reference to the person requested or appointed under subsection (4).
(8)
In this section and sections 82, 84 and 85 —
Definition
“foreign regulatory authority” means an authority of a country or territory other than Singapore, which exercises any function that corresponds to a regulatory function of the Authority under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act 1970 or any of the written laws set out in the Schedule to that Act;
Definition
“parent company”, in relation to a specified financial adviser, means a financial institution of which the specified financial adviser is a subsidiary;
Definition
“specified financial adviser” means a licensed financial adviser or an exempt financial adviser mentioned in section 20(1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (g);
Definition
“subsidiary” has the meaning given by section 5 of the Companies Act 1967.[70C