PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
Administration and enforcement
Appointment of assistants
50. —(1) Subject to subsection (1A), the Authority may appoint any person to exercise any of its powers or perform any of its functions or duties under this Act, either generally or in any particular case, except the power to make subsidiary legislation.
[41/2001]
(1A) The Authority may, by notification published in the Gazette, appoint one or more of its officers to exercise the power to grant an exemption to any person (not being an exemption granted to a class of persons) under a provision of this Act specified in the Second Schedule, or to revoke any such exemption.
(2) Any person appointed by the Authority under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be a public servant for the purposes of the Penal Code (Cap. 224).
[41/2001]
51. Deleted by Act 24/2003, wef 01/01/2004.
Exemption
52. —(1) The Authority may, by regulations, exempt any person or class of persons from all or any of the provisions of this Act, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
[41/2001]
(1A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Authority may make regulations to exempt any person or class of persons from section 3 or 35W and, in making these regulations, the Authority may make such provisions as it thinks fit to regulate the person or class of persons, whether by modification of provisions of this Act or by imposing such other requirements or restrictions as may be prescribed.
(2) The Authority may, on the application of any person, exempt the person from all or any of the provisions of this Act or any direction by notice in writing if the Authority considers it appropriate to do so in the circumstances of the case.
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(3) An exemption under subsection (2) —
(a) may be granted subject to such terms or conditions as the Authority may specify by notice in writing; and
(b) need not be published in the Gazette.
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(4) An exemption granted under this section may be withdrawn by the Authority at any time.
[11/86]
Statistics
53. —(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 64 (1), regulations may provide —
(a) for the collection by or on behalf of the Authority, at such intervals or on such occasions as may be prescribed, of statistical information as to such matters relevant to insurance as may be prescribed; and
(b) for the collection and use of statistical information for any purpose, whether or not connected with insurance.
[11/86;41/2001]
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of section 64 (1) and (2), the Authority may prescribe or specify in directions the form or manner in which statistical information shall be furnished by Singapore insurers or insurance intermediaries to the Authority.
(3) No use shall be made of any information obtained by or on behalf of the Authority by virtue only of this section except in a form which does not disclose the affairs of any particular person.
Service of notice, etc.
54. —(1) Unless otherwise expressly provided in this Act, any notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be given to or served on any person may be given to or served on the person —
(a) by delivering it to the person or to some adult member or employee of his family or household at his last known place of residence;
(b) by leaving it at his usual or last known place of residence or business in an envelope addressed to him;
(c) by sending it by registered post addressed to the person at his usual or last known place of residence or business; or
(d) in the case of a body corporate, a partnership or a body of persons —
(i) by delivering it to the secretary or other like officer of the body corporate, partnership or body of persons at its registered office or principal place of business; or
(ii) by sending it by registered post addressed to the body corporate, partnership or body of persons at its registered office or principal place of business.
[41/2001]
(2) Any notice, order or document sent by registered post to any person in accordance with subsection (1) shall be deemed to be duly served on the person to whom the letter is addressed at the time when the letter would, in the ordinary course of post, be delivered.
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(3) When proving service of the notice, order or document, it shall be sufficient to prove that the envelope containing the notice, order or document was properly addressed, stamped and posted by registered post.
[41/2001]
General provisions as to offences
55. —(1) Any person who —
(a) signs any document lodged with the Authority under section 36, 37 or 49 (1) (a); or
(b) furnishes the Authority with any information under or for the purposes of any other provision of this Act, shall use due care to secure that the document or information is not false in any material particular; and if he does not use due care in this behalf and the document or information is false in a material particular, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
[11/86;32/93;41/2001]
(2) Any person who is guilty of any breach of a duty imposed on him by this Act or any direction issued by the Authority under section 64 (2) shall be guilty of an offence and, where no penalty is expressly provided, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $12,500 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $1,250 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.
[11/86;32/93;30/99;41/2001]
(3) Where an offence under this Act is committed by any corporation, any person who, at the time of the commission of the offence, is a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of that corporation, or is purporting to act in that capacity, shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly unless he proves that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised, having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.
[41/2001]
(4) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a corporation, being an offence consisting in the breach of a duty imposed only on corporations, any individual guilty of the offence (whether under subsection (3) or otherwise) shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months in addition to or in substitution for any fine.
[11/86;32/93]
(5) For the purpose of any proceedings under subsection (1) (a), a document purporting to be signed by any person shall be presumed to have been signed by him, unless the contrary is proved.
(6) The Authority may, without instituting proceedings against any person for an offence under this Act which is punishable only by a fine, demand and receive the amount of such fine or such reduced amount as it thinks fit from that person, whereupon —
(a) if that person pays such amount to the Authority within 14 days after the demand, no proceedings shall be taken against him in relation to the offence; and
(b) if that person does not pay the amount so demanded, the Authority may cause proceedings to be instituted in relation to the offence.
[41/2001]
(7) Deleted by Act 23/2003, wef 01/01/2004.
Penalties for corporations
55A. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), where a corporation is convicted of an offence under this Act, the penalty that the court may impose is a fine not exceeding 2 times the maximum amount that the court could, but for this subsection, impose as a fine for that offence.
[41/2001]
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any offence under this Act consisting in the breach of a duty imposed only on corporations.
[41/2001]
(3) Where an individual is convicted of an offence under this Act by virtue of section 55 (3), he shall be liable to the fine or imprisonment or both as prescribed for that offence and subsection (1) shall not apply.
[41/2001]
Jurisdiction of court
56. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68), a District Court and a Magistrate’s Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and shall have power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of any offence under this Act.
[11/86]
Extra-territoriality of Act
56A. —(1) Where a person does an act partly in and partly outside Singapore which, if done wholly in Singapore, would constitute an offence against any provision of this Act, that person shall be guilty of that offence as if the act were carried out by that person wholly in Singapore, and may be dealt with as if the offence were committed wholly in Singapore.
[41/2001]
(2) Where —
(a) a person does an act outside Singapore which has a substantial and reasonably foreseeable effect in Singapore; and
(b) that act would, if carried out in Singapore, constitute an offence under section 3, 6, 35S or 35W, that person shall be guilty of that offence as if the act were carried out by that person in Singapore, and may be dealt with as if the offence were committed in Singapore.
[41/2001]
(3) The Authority may, by regulations, specify the circumstances under which subsection (2) does not apply.
[41/2001]
Miscellaneous amendments of law
Insurable interest required for life insurances
57. —(1) A life policy insuring the life of anyone, other than the person effecting the insurance or a person connected with him as mentioned in subsection (2), shall be void unless the person effecting the insurance has an insurable interest in that life at the time the insurance is effected; and the policy moneys paid under such a policy shall not exceed the amount of that insurable interest at that time.
(2) The lives excepted from subsection (1), besides that of the person effecting the insurance, are those of that person’s wife or husband, of that person’s child or ward being under the age of majority at the time the insurance is effected, and of anyone on whom that person is at that time wholly or partly dependent.
(3) In this section, "insuring the life of a person" means insuring the payment of money (or the equivalent) on that person’s death or on the happening of any contingency dependent on the termination or continuance of that person’s life, and includes granting an annuity to commence on that death or at a time to be determined by reference thereto or to any such contingency.
(4) In so far as in the case of any life policy the policy moneys do not consist wholly of a cash payment due on the death in question, the limit under this section on the amount to be paid shall be applied by reference to the value of the right to the policy moneys immediately after the death or the happening before the death of any event on which they become payable.
(5) This section shall not affect policies issued before 1st January 1967.
Capacity of infant to insure
58. —(1) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a person over the age of 10 years shall not, by reason only of being under the age of majority, lack the capacity to enter into a contract of insurance; but a person under the age of 16 years shall not have the capacity to enter into such a contract except with the consent in writing of his parent or guardian.
(2) This section shall be deemed always to have had effect.
Life policy moneys to be paid without deduction
59. —(1) Any policy moneys payable under a life policy or moneys payable on the surrender of a life policy shall be paid without any deduction for sums not due under the policy or under an agreement charging them on the policy, unless the deduction is made with the consent of the person entitled to those moneys; and any provision contained in a life policy or in any agreement relating thereto shall be void, in so far as it entitles the insurer to make any such deduction without that consent.
(2) Subsection (1) shall apply to all Singapore policies, but shall not apply to any other policy issued before 1st January 1967.
(3) In any proceedings for the recovery of policy moneys due under the life policy or of moneys payable on the surrender of a life policy, no set-off or counterclaim shall be allowed except for sums due under the policy or under an agreement charging them on the policy.
Life policies (surrenders, non-payment of premiums, paid-up policies)
60. —(1) Where a life policy, has been in force for 3 years or more, the policy owner may by notice in writing to the insurer surrender the policy and shall thereupon become entitled to receive the surrender value thereof, determined in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed (but subject to any deduction for sums due under the policy or under an agreement charging them on the policy).
[30/99]
(2) Where a life policy has been in force for 3 years or more, the policy shall not lapse or be forfeited by reason of the non-payment of premiums, but shall have effect subject to such modifications as to the period for which it is to be in force or the benefits receivable thereunder or both as may be determined in accordance with any system adopted by the insurer and applicable to the policy; and —
(a) in the case of a policy issued as a Singapore policy after 1st January 1967 or as an offshore policy issued after 1st January 1987, the system shall require the approval of the Authority, and shall be that adopted and applicable at the time the policy is issued, and the policy shall contain a statement in a form approved by the Authority of the effect of this subsection in relation to the policy; and
(b) in any other case, unless the system is determined by the policy, the system shall be that which at the time when this section becomes applicable to the policy would apply to a like policy then issued as a Singapore policy.
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(3) Where a life policy has been in force for 3 years or more, the policy owner may by notice in writing to the insurer elect to exchange the policy for a paid-up policy, which shall be a non-participating policy for an amount determined in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed, but with no other modification not required by this Act or some other written law.
(4) A policy issued in place of an earlier policy shall, for the purposes of this section (including this subsection), be treated as having been in force since the earlier policy began to be in force; but this shall not affect the operation in relation to a policy of subsection (2) (a) or (b).
(5) Subsections (1) to (3) shall not apply —
(a) to a policy securing the grant of an annuity for a term dependent upon human life; or
(b) to a policy under which no policy moneys are necessarily payable, not being a policy which provides for the payment of policy moneys on a death after a specified period.
(6) As respects policies of any prescribed description, subsections (1), (2) and (3) shall have effect subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.
(7) The rights conferred by this section shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other rights available to the policy owner under the terms of the policy or otherwise; but this section shall not be taken to confer on a policy owner any rights except against the insurer as such.
(8) This section shall apply to policies whenever issued; and, subject to subsection (5), shall extend to any Singapore policy and offshore policy.
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Payment of life policy and accident and health claims without probate, etc.
61. —(1) In any case where the policy owner of any life policy or accident and health policy of an insurer dies, and the policy moneys are payable thereunder on his death, the insurer may make payment to any proper claimant a prescribed amount of the policy moneys of all such policies issued by the insurer on the deceased’s life without the production of any probate or letters of administration; and the insurer shall be discharged from all liability in respect of the amount paid.
[11/86]
(2) If, in any case as is mentioned in subsection (1), estate duty is payable in Singapore on any such policy moneys as are there mentioned, the insurer may, notwithstanding section 43 (2) of the Estate Duty Act (Cap. 96), pay to any proper claimant a prescribed amount of the policy moneys of all such policies issued by the insurer, without the policy moneys having been included in such a schedule or certificate as is mentioned in that subsection.
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(3) Before making any payment under subsection (2), the insurer shall give notice by registered post to the Commissioner of Estate Duties with such particulars as the Commissioner may require.
[11/86]
(4) Subsection (2) shall apply in relation to policy moneys under policies of which the deceased was not the policy owner at his death as it applies in relation to any such policy moneys as are mentioned in subsection (1).
[22/73;11/86]
(5) Where an amount is paid under subsection (2) on account of any policy moneys, the insurer may, before payment of the balance of such policy moneys to any proper claimant, apply the whole or part of the policy moneys to pay any unpaid estate duty payable on the death of the insured.
[11/86]
(6) In this section —
(a) "policy owner" includes a part owner of a policy;
(b) "proper claimant" means a person who claims to be entitled to the sums in question as executor of the deceased, or who claims to be entitled to that sum (whether for his own benefit or not) and is the widower, widow, parent, child, brother, sister, nephew or niece of the deceased; and
(c) in deducing any relationship for the purposes of this subsection, an illegitimate person shall be treated as the legitimate child of his actual parents.
No insurance to be made unless insurer has interest and no policy without inserting names (UK Life Assurance Act 1774)
62. —(1) No insurance shall be made by any person on any event wherein the person for whose use or benefit or on whose account the policy is made has no interest, or by way of gaming or wagering; and every assurance made contrary to this subsection shall be void.
[35/93]
(2) It shall not be lawful to make any policy on any event without inserting in such policy the names of the persons interested therein, or for whose use or benefit or on whose account such policy was made.
[35/93]
(3) In all cases where there is an interest in such event, no greater sum shall be recovered or received from the insurer than the amount or value of the interest.
[35/93]
(4) Nothing in this section shall extend to insurance made by any person on ships or goods, or to contracts of indemnity against loss by fire or loss by other events whatsoever.
[35/93]
No action for accidental fire (UK Fire Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774, s. 86)
63. No action shall lie against a person in whose house or premises or on whose estate any fire accidentally began except that no contract or agreement made between landlord and tenant shall be hereby defeated or made void.
[35/93]
Supplementary
Amendment of Schedules
63A. —(1) The Minister may from time to time, by order published in the Gazette, amend, add to or vary the First or Second Schedule.
(2) The Minister may, in any order made under subsection (1), make such incidental, consequential or supplementary provisions as may be necessary or expedient.
(3) Any order made under subsection (1) shall be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.
Regulations
64. —(1) The Authority may make regulations for carrying into effect the objects of this Act, and for prescribing anything which under this Act is to be prescribed.
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(1A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations may be made for or with respect to —
(a) the forms for the purposes of this Act;
(b) the fees to be paid in respect of any matter or thing required for the purposes of this Act, including the refund or remission, whether in whole or in part, of such fees; and
(c) the corporate governance of insurers.
(1B) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, regulations made under this Act —
(a) may be of general or specific application;
(b) may provide that a contravention of any specified provision thereof shall be an offence; and
(c) may provide for penalties not exceeding a fine of $50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both for each offence and, in the case of a continuing offence, a further penalty not exceeding a fine of 10% of the maximum fine prescribed for that offence for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
(2) The Authority may issue such directions as it may consider necessary for carrying into effect the objects of this Act.
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(2A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the Authority may issue such directions as it may consider necessary to an authorised reinsurer with respect to the manner and form of the transfer of the whole or part of its business of providing the reinsurance of liabilities under insurance policies, to persons in Singapore.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, a direction issued under this Act shall be deemed not to be subsidiary legislation.
[41/2001]
Saving provisions
65. —(1) The repeal of section 34 shall not —
(a) invalidate any existing Lloyd’s policy;
(b) prevent the collection or receipt of premiums on any existing Lloyd’s policy; or
(c) prejudice any right or claim against the Lloyd’s underwriter, or by the Lloyd’s underwriter of any right or claim against any policy owner or person, relating to any existing Lloyd’s policy.
(2) The Authority shall, if satisfied that insurance business is not being carried on in Singapore by any Lloyd’s underwriter under the repealed section 34, transfer any deposit referred to in the repealed section 34 (4) and maintained under the repealed Second Schedule, to Lloyd’s, except such part (if any) that the Authority determines should be kept available for meeting claims against Lloyd’s underwriters in respect of any existing Lloyd’s policy.
(3) For the purposes of this section —
"existing Lloyd’s policy" means any insurance policy entered into by a Lloyd’s underwriter before 8th January 2002 and which was authorised under the repealed section 34;
"Lloyd’s" has the same meaning as in the repealed section 34;
"Lloyd’s underwriter" has the same meaning as in the repealed section 34;
[41/2001]
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