Singapore legislation
Regulation 3
of Charities (Institutions of A Public Character) Regulations
Regulation 3
Conditions for approval of institution of a public character
Subregulation 1
An institution or fund may be approved as an institution of a public character if it satisfies the following conditions:
it is a registered charity or an exempt charity in Singapore;
its governing instruments are approved by the Sector Administrator;
its activities are exclusively beneficial to the community in Singapore as a whole and are not confined to sectional interests or groups of persons based on race, belief or religion;
its activities meet its objectives under its governing instruments and the objectives of the Sector Administrator;
its governing board satisfies the independence requirement in paragraph (4);
(ea)at least half of its governing board members are Singapore citizens;
its governing board members are accountable for the management of donations received;
the appointment of its auditor is approved by the Sector Administrator;
the approval of the institution or fund as an institution of a public character is not contrary to the public interest.
Subregulation 2
[Deleted by S 122/2019 wef 01/03/2019]
Subregulation 3
[Deleted by S 122/2019 wef 01/03/2019]
Subregulation 4
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(e), the independence requirement is that at least half of the governing board members of the applicant must not be —
an employee of the applicant;
related to any individual or entity (except the Government) that established the applicant, or be such an individual or entity;
related to any individual who is involved in the general control and management of the administration of any entity (except the Government) that established the applicant; or
one of a number of governing board members of the applicant who are related (directly or indirectly) to each other and who collectively constitute at least half of the total number of governing board members of the applicant.
Subregulation 5
For the purposes of paragraph (4), an individual (called in this paragraph the first individual) is related to another individual if the other individual is the first individual’s —
child or grandchild;
sibling;
parent or grandparent;
spouse; or
spouse’s parent or sibling.
Subregulation 6
For the purposes of paragraph (4), a governing board member of the applicant is related to an entity that established the applicant if the governing board member is —
a director or senior executive of —
the entity; or
a holding company or subsidiary of the entity,where the entity is a company or corporation within the meaning of the Companies Act 1967;
an officer of the entity, where the entity is a society registered under the Societies Act 1966;
a trustee of the entity, where the entity is a trust; or
involved in the general control and management of the administration of the entity, in any other case.
Subregulation 7
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(ea), where the governing board member is a company, it shall be treated as a citizen of Singapore if at least half of the number of directors of the company are citizens of Singapore.Illustration The governing board of an applicant consists of A, B, C and D and 3 other members. A is B’s spouse. C is D’s spouse. A and C are siblings. B and D are regarded to be indirectly related through A and C. It follows that the independence requirement in regulation 3(4) is not satisfied because more than half of the total number of governing board members of the applicant are individuals to whom regulation 3(4)(d) applies.