Singapore legislation
Section 19
Section 19
Unlicensed moneylending
(1)
Subject to subsection (2), any person who contravenes, or who assists in the contravention of, section 5(1) shall be guilty of an offence and —
in the case where the person is a body corporate, shall on conviction be punished with a fine of not less than $50,000 and not more than $500,000; or
in any other case —
shall on conviction be punished with a fine of not less than $30,000 and not more than $300,000 and with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years; and
in the case of a second or subsequent offence, shall on conviction be punished with a fine of not less than $30,000 and not more than $300,000 and with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years.
(2)
Subject to sections 325(1) and 330(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 —
a person who is convicted for the first time of an offence under subsection (1) shall also be liable to be punished with caning with not more than 6 strokes; or
a person who is convicted of a second or subsequent offence under subsection (1) shall also be liable to be punished with caning with not more than 12 strokes.
(3)
Where any contract for a loan has been granted by an unlicensed moneylender, or any guarantee or security has been given for such a loan —
the contract for the loan, and the guarantee or security (as the case may be) is unenforceable; and
any money paid by or on behalf of the unlicensed moneylender under the contract for the loan is not recoverable in any court of law.
(4)
Subsections (1) and (3) do not apply to a moneylender who —
is not ordinarily resident in Singapore;
is not a licensee; and
carries on the business of moneylending in Singapore through an agent who is a licensee or an exempt moneylender.
(5)
Without limiting subsection (1), a person (P) assists in a contravention of section 5(1) if —
P collects or demands payment of a loan on behalf of a person whom P knows or has reasonable grounds to believe is carrying on a business in contravention of section 5(1);
P receives, possesses, conceals or disposes of any funds or other property, or engages in a banking transaction relating to any funds, on behalf of any person knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that —
the person is carrying on a business in contravention of section 5(1); and
either the funds are (or are intended to be) disbursed as a loan by that person, or the funds or property is repayment of a loan made by that person;
being the owner or person having management or control of any premises, P allows the premises to be used to carry on a business knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the carrying on of such business contravenes section 5(1);
P lends or provides funds, or lends, sells or provides any prepaid subscriber identification module (SIM) card or other property to a person, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the funds or property will be used for the carrying on of a business in contravention of section 5(1);
P keeps the records and accounts of a business knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the carrying on of such business contravenes section 5(1); (f)P promotes or advertises a business knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the carrying on of such business contravenes section 5(1); or (g)P provides or gives access to the name of or other information relating to any other person (called the potential borrower), or otherwise refers a potential borrower, to a person whom P knows or has reasonable grounds to believe is carrying on a business in contravention of section 5(1), intending to facilitate or knowing it to be likely to facilitate the lending of money by that person to the potential borrower.
(6)
In subsection (5), “funds” and “property” have the meanings given by section 21.
(7)
For the purposes of subsection (1), where the bank account or automated teller machine card of any person, or a telecommunication service subscribed in the name of or purchased by any person, is proved to the satisfaction of the court to have been used to facilitate the carrying on of the business of moneylending by an unlicensed moneylender, that person is presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have assisted in the contravention of section 5(1).
(8)
In this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “telecommunication service” has the meaning given by the Telecommunications Act 1999.[14