Singapore legislation
Section 41
Section 41
Remedies in cases of oppression or injustice
(1)
Any unitholder or any holder of a debenture of a registered business trust may apply to the court for an order under this section on the ground —
that the affairs of the registered business trust are being conducted by the trustee‑manager of the registered business trust, or the powers of the directors of the trustee‑manager of the registered business trust are being exercised, in a manner oppressive to one or more of the unitholders or holders of debentures of the registered business trust including the applicant or in disregard of the applicant’s or their interests as unitholders or holders of debentures of the registered business trust; or
that some act of the trustee‑manager of the registered business trust, carried out in its capacity as trustee‑manager of the registered business trust, has been done or is threatened or that some resolution of the unitholders or holders of debentures of the registered business trust or any class of them has been passed or is proposed which unfairly discriminates against or is otherwise prejudicial to one or more of the unitholders or holders of debentures of the registered business trust (including the applicant).
(2)
If on such application the court is of the opinion that either of the grounds mentioned in subsection (1) is established, the court may, with a view to bringing to an end to or remedying the matters complained of, make any order that it thinks fit and, without limiting the foregoing, the order may —
direct or prohibit any act or cancel or vary any transaction or resolution;
regulate the conduct of the affairs of the trustee‑manager of a registered business trust in relation to the registered business trust in future;
authorise civil proceedings against the directors of the trustee‑manager of the registered business trust to be brought in the name of or on behalf of all the unitholders of the registered business trust as a whole by any person or persons and on any terms that the court may direct;
provide for the purchase of the units in or debentures of the registered business trust by other unitholders or holders of debentures of the registered business trust;
provide that the registered business trust be wound up; or
provide that the costs and expenses of and incidental to the application for the order are to be raised and paid out of the trust property of the registered business trust or to be borne and paid in any manner and by any persons that the court deems fit.
(3)
Where an order under this section makes any alteration in or addition to the trust deed of any registered business trust, then, despite anything in any other provision of this Act but subject to the provisions of the order, the trustee‑manager of the registered business trust concerned does not have power, without the leave of the court, to make any further alteration in or addition to the trust deed that is inconsistent with the provisions of the order; but subject to the foregoing provisions of this subsection the alterations or additions made by the order have the same effect as if duly made by special resolution of the unitholders of the registered business trust.
(4)
A copy of any order made under this section must be lodged by the applicant with the Authority within 7 days after the making of the order.
(5)
Any person who contravenes subsection (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $1,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.
(6)
This section applies to a person who is not a unitholder of a registered business trust but to whom units in the registered business trust have been transmitted by operation of law as it applies to the unitholders of a registered business trust; and references to a unitholder or unitholders are to be construed accordingly.