Clause 26

by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:“(1) The Authority or any officer authorised by the Authority in that behalf may, for the purposes of conducting an investigation or for discharging its functions under this Act, by order require any person to produce to the Authority any document, or to provide the Authority with any information, which the Authority considers to be related to any matter relevant to the investigation or for discharging its functions under this Act.”;

by inserting, immediately after the words “any copy or extract” in subsection (2), the words “of any document”;

by inserting, immediately after the words “purpose of” in subsection (3), the words “conducting an investigation or”;

by inserting, immediately after subsection (5), the following subsection:“(5A) The power under this section to require a person to produce a document includes the power —

if the document is produced, to require such person, or any person who is a present or past officer of his or is or was at any time employed by him, to provide an explanation of the document; or

if the document is not produced, to require such person to state, to the best of his knowledge and belief, where it is.”;

by deleting the words “and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $50 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction” in the 11th, 12th, 13th, penultimate and last lines of subsection (6);

by inserting, immediately after subsection (6), the following subsection:“(6A) If a person is charged with an offence under subsection (6) in respect of a requirement to produce any document or information under subsection (1), it shall be a defence for him to prove that —

the document was not in his possession or under his control;

it was not reasonably practicable for him to comply with the requirement; or

he had a reasonable excuse for failing to provide the information required.”; and

by inserting, immediately after subsection (7), the following subsection:“(8) In this section and sections 61 and 63 —“document” includes any electronic record;“electronic record” has the same meaning as in the Electronic Transactions Act (Cap. 88).”.