21. Provisions as to bankruptcy proceedings for moneylenders’ loans
Feedback & supportWhere a debt due to a moneylender in respect of a loan made by him includes interest, that interest shall, for the purposes of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act [Cap. 20], be calculated at a rate not exceeding 4% per annum, but nothing in the foregoing provision shall prejudice the right of the moneylender to receive out of the estate, after all the debts proved in the estate have been paid in full, any higher rate of interest to which he may be entitled.
moneylender
“moneylender” includes every person whose business is that of moneylending or who carries on or advertises or announces himself or holds himself out in any way as carrying on that business whether or not that person also possesses or earns property or money derived from sources other than the lending of money and whether or not that person carries on the business as a principal or as an agent but does not include —(a)any body corporate, incorporated or empowered by a special Act of Parliament or by any other Act to lend money in accordance with that Act;(b)any society registered under the Cooperative Societies Act;(c)any person bona fide carrying on the business of banking or insurance or bona fide carrying on any business not having for its primary object the lending of money in the course of which and for the purposes whereof he lends money;(d)any pawnbroker licensed under the provisions of any written law in force in Singapore relating to the licensing of pawnbrokers; and(e)any finance company licensed under the Finance Companies Act.
No proof of a debt due to a moneylender in respect of a loan made by him shall be admitted for any of the purposes of the Bankruptcy Act unless the affidavit verifying the debt has exhibited thereto a statement which complies with section 20 and shows, where the amount of interest included in the unpaid balance represents a rate per cent per annum exceeding 4%, the amount of interest which would be so included if it were calculated at the rate of 8% per annum.
Where property is vested in the Official Assignee by reason of any adjudication or vesting order or other order having the like effect, made under the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act or which is the subject of a composition or scheme of arrangement approved thereunder, but where no dividend has been declared or payment by way of dividend has been made, subsections (1) and (2) shall apply notwithstanding that the order vesting the property or a receiving order made in respect of it was made or the composition or scheme of arrangement was approved or any debt provable or payable in respect of it was incurred before the date of the commencement of this Act.
General rules may be made under the Bankruptcy Act for the purpose of carrying into effect the objects of this section.