Singapore legislation
Clause 19
Clause 19
New section 149A
The Companies Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 149, the following section:“Disqualification of directors of companies wound up on grounds of national security or interest149A.—
Subject to subsections (2) and (3), where a company is ordered to be wound up by the Court under section 254(1)(m) on the ground that it is being used for purposes against national security or interest, the Court may, on the application of the Minister, make an order (referred to in this section as a disqualification order) disqualifying any person who is a director of that company from being a director or in any way, directly or indirectly, being concerned in, or from taking part in, the management of any company or foreign company for a period of 3 years from the date of the making of the winding up order.(2) The Court shall not make a disqualification order against any person under subsection (1) unless the Court is satisfied that the person against whom the order is sought has been given not less than 14 days’ notice of the Minister’s application for the order.(3) The Court shall not make a disqualification order against any person under subsection (1) if such person proves to the satisfaction of the Court that —
the company had been used for purposes against national security or interest without his consent or connivance; and
he had exercised such diligence to prevent the company from being so used as he ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his function in that capacity and to all the circumstances.(4) Any person who acts in contravention of a disqualification order made under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.(5) In this section —“director”, in relation to a company, includes a shadow director;“foreign company” means a foreign company to which Division 2 of Part XI applies;“shadow director”, in relation to a company, means a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a company are accustomed to act except that a person shall not be deemed to be a shadow director by reason only that the directors act on advice given by him in a professional capacity.”.