Singapore legislation
Regulation 26
Regulation 26
Offences, penalties and defences
Subregulation 1
A person who contravenes regulation 24 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine of $2,500 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.
Subregulation 2
A qualified major stake entity of a merchant bank shall not be guilty of an offence in respect of a contravention of regulation 24(1), (2) or (3) if the qualified major stake entity proves that —
it became a qualified major stake entity of the merchant bank because of, or the contravention resulted from, circumstances beyond its control; or
it had, at the time of its acquisition or holding of shares in the merchant bank or any holding company of the merchant bank, reasonable grounds for believing that the acquisition or holding would not result in a contravention of regulation 24(1), (2) or (3), as the case may be,and it had, within 14 days of becoming aware of the contravention, notified the Authority in writing of the contravention and taken any action directed by the Authority within the time determined by the Authority.
Subregulation 3
A merchant bank shall not be guilty of an offence in respect of a contravention of regulation 24(4) if the merchant bank proves that —
the contravention resulted from circumstances beyond its control; or
it did not know and had no reason to suspect that there was an acquisition or holding of shares in itself or any of its holding companies by its qualified major stake entity or entities that would result in the merchant bank being in contravention of regulation 24(4),and the merchant bank had, within 14 days of becoming aware of the contravention, notified the Authority in writing of that contravention, and taken any action directed by the Authority within the time determined by the Authority.
Subregulation 4
Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), it is not a defence for a person charged with an offence in respect of a contravention of regulation 24 to prove that the person did not intend to or did not knowingly contravene regulation 24.