Singapore legislation
Section 33
Section 33
Note of moneylender’s contract to be given to borrower
(1)
No contract for a loan granted by a licensee, and no guarantee or security given by or on behalf of a borrower for the loan, is enforceable and no money paid by or on behalf of the licensee pursuant to the contract for the loan is recoverable in any court of law unless —
a note of the contract for the loan, in the prescribed form, is signed by the parties to the contract for the loan or their respective agents;
where any party to the contract for the loan (including a surety) or the party’s agent does not understand the English language, the licensee or the licensee’s agent explains the terms of the note of the contract for the loan in a language that the party or the party’s agent understands before any of them signs the note; and
a copy of the note of the contract for the loan, duly signed by the licensee or the licensee’s agent, is delivered to the borrower and the surety (if any) or their respective agents before or at the time the loan is paid to the borrower or any other person on the borrower’s direction.
(2)
A licensee shall be guilty of an offence if the licensee —
knowingly or recklessly makes or causes to be made any note of a contract for a loan in which the principal, the rate of interest or late interest or any permitted fee payable, is not truly stated; or
makes or causes to be made any note of a contract for a loan in which the principal, the rate of interest or late interest or any permitted fee payable, is not stated.
(3)
A licensee who is guilty of an offence under subsection (2) shall be liable on conviction —
to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both; or
if the licensee is a repeat offender, to a fine not exceeding $40,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
(4)
In subsection (3), a licensee is a repeat offender if the licensee has been convicted on at least one other earlier occasion of —
an offence under subsection (3) for contravening subsection (2); or
an offence under section 20(2) of this Act as in force immediately before 30 November 2018, whether the conviction was before, on or after that date.
(5)
This section does not apply to any loan on revolving credit that may be drawn down and repaid by the borrower or the borrower’s agent at any time and from time to time subject to a limit approved by the licensee.[20