29. Application of this Act as respects assignees
Feedback & supportSubject as hereinafter provided the provisions of this Act shall continue to apply as respects any debt to a moneylender in respect of money lent by him or in respect of interest on money so lent or of the benefit of any agreement made or security taken in respect of any such debt or interest notwithstanding that the debts or the benefit of the agreement or security may have been assigned to any assignee and, except where the context otherwise requires, references in this Act to a moneylender shall accordingly be construed as including any such assignee.
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 assignment of any debt in respect of money lent by a moneylender shall be valid unless the moneylender is licensed under this Act.
Notwithstanding anything in this Act —
any agreement with or any security taken by a licensed moneylender in respect of money lent by him shall be valid in favour of any bona fide assignee or holder for value without notice of any defect due to the operation of this Act and of any person deriving title under him; and
any payment or transfer of money or property made bona fide by any person, whether acting in a fiduciary capacity or otherwise, on the faith of the validity of any such agreement or security without notice of any such defect shall, in favour of that person, be as valid as it would have been if the agreement or security had been valid:Provided that in every such case the moneylender shall be liable to indemnify the borrower or any other person who is prejudiced by virtue of this section and nothing in this subsection shall render valid an agreement or security in favour of or apply to proceedings commenced by an assignee or holder for value who is himself a moneylender.
Notwithstanding anything in this Act, for the purposes of this section an assignee or holder for value or person making any such payment or transfer as aforesaid shall not be prejudicially affected by notice of any such defect as aforesaid unless —
it is within his own knowledge, or would have come to his knowledge if such inquiries and inspections had been made as ought reasonably to have been made by him; or
in the same transaction, with respect to which a question of notice to such assignee, holder for value or person arises, it has come to the knowledge of his counsel as such or of his solicitor or other agent as such, or would have come to the knowledge of his solicitor or other agent as such if those inquiries and inspections had been made as ought reasonably to have been made by the solicitor or other agent.
Nothing in this section shall render valid for any purpose any agreement, security or other transaction which would, apart from the provisions of this Act, have been void or unenforceable.