Business Trusts Act 2004 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 8 · Deregistration
52. Power of Authority to deregister defunct business trust
Feedback & supportWhere the Authority has reasonable cause to believe that the trustee‑manager of a registered business trust is not managing or operating the business of the registered business trust, the Authority may send to the trustee‑manager by post a letter to that effect and stating that if an answer showing cause to the contrary is not received within one month from the date of the letter, a notice will be published in the Gazette with a view to deregistering the registered business trust.
Unless the Authority receives an answer within one month from the date of the letter mentioned in subsection (1) to the effect that the trustee‑manager is managing and operating the business of the registered business trust, the Authority may publish in the Gazette and send to the trustee‑manager by registered post a notice that, at the expiry of 3 months from the date of that notice, the Authority may apply to the court to appoint a liquidator with respect to the registered business trust.
trustee‑manager
“trustee‑manager”, in relation to a registered business trust, includes a replacement trustee‑manager and temporary trustee‑manager;
Upon receiving a notice of the completion of the winding up of the registered business trust from the liquidator mentioned in subsection (2), as required under section 48(5), the Authority may deregister the registered business trust, and must publish a notice thereof in the Gazette, and on the publication in the Gazette of the notice the business trust is deregistered; but the liability (if any) of every officer of the trustee‑manager of the business trust and every unitholder of the business trust continues and may be enforced as if the business trust had not been wound up.
registered business trust
“registered business trust” means a business trust that is registered by the Authority under section 4(1);
If any person feels aggrieved by the deregistration of the business trust, the court, on an application made by that person at any time within 6 years after the business trust has been so deregistered may, if satisfied that the trustee‑manager of the business trust was, at the time of the deregistration of the business trust, managing and operating the business of the business trust such that it is just that the registration of the business trust should be reinstated, order the registration of the business trust be reinstated; and upon a copy of the order being lodged with the Authority, the business trust is deemed to have continued to be registered as if it had never been deregistered, and the court may by the order give any directions and make any provisions as seem just for placing the trustee‑manager and all other persons in the same position as nearly as may be as if the business trust had not been deregistered.
business trust
“business trust” means —(a)a trust that is established in respect of any property and that has the following characteristics:(i)the purpose or effect, or purported purpose or effect, of the trust is to enable the unitholders (whether by acquiring any right, interest, title or benefit in the property or any part of the property or otherwise) to participate in or receive profits, income or other payments or returns arising from the management of the property or management or operation of a business;(ii)the unitholders of the trust do not have day‑to‑day control over the management of the property, whether or not they have the right to be consulted or to give directions in respect of such management;(iii)the property subject to the trust is managed as a whole by a trustee or by another person on behalf of the trustee;(iv)the contributions of the unitholders and the profits or income from which payments are to be made to them are pooled; and(v)either —(A)the units in the trust that are issued are exclusively or primarily non-redeemable; or(B)the trust invests only in real estate and real estate-related assets specified by the Authority in the Code on Collective Investment Schemes mentioned in section 284 of the Securities and Futures Act 2001 and is listed on an approved exchange; or(b)a class or description of trust that is declared by the Authority, by notice published in the Gazette, to be a business trust for the purposes of this Act,but does not include the types of trusts specified in the Schedule;
A notice to be sent under this section to a trustee‑manager of a registered business trust may be addressed to the trustee‑manager at its registered office or, if no office has been registered, to the care of some officer of the trustee‑manager.
officer
“officer” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;