Singapore Law Blog

Minister for Transport Raymond Lim announced on 17 May 2008 that all new small buses must be installed with seat belts, and LTA would study if the same need to be imposed on existing buses, and if so, how best to implement seat belts effectively.

Global financial markets have been under severe strain. Banks in developed markets are experiencing significant capital and liquidity constraints.

China’s Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng today announced the successful conclusion of negotiations for the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA). The announcement was made at the 5th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting co-chaired by Vice Premier Wang and DPM Wong in Tianjin, China.

The Office of Commissioner of Charities is seeking feedback on the proposed amendments to the Charities Act. The last amendments to the Charities Act were made in March 2007. The changes then were primarily to incorporate the new charity regulatory model and the various recommendations as proposed by the Inter-Ministry Committee on the Regulation of Charities and Institutions of a Public Character. To facilitate and further enhance the levels of governance and accountability in the charity sector, the Commissioner of Charities is proposing to further amend the Charities Act.

The public consultation by the Competition Commission for Changes to Leniency Programme will be held from 3 September to 3 October 2008. The media release is below.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM would like to invite feedback from members of the public on the proposed amendments to the Employment Act (EA).

The Government will with immediate effect waive the collection of building premium where lease extensions are granted.

Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) today announced measures to manage the transition process of Catalist Non-Sponsored (Catalist-NS) companies to the Catalist’s sponsored regime. It was announced on 4 February 2008 that Catalist-NS companies would be given a period of at least two years to undertake this process.

The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) together with the launch of its new website (www.aims.org.sg) on 29th August 2008 has also released a consultation paper on liberalising the internet for feedback.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is gathering public feedback in its review of the planning guidelines for restaurants, food shops and pubs located in non-HDB private shophouses near residential estates.

The Ministry of Finance will be conducting public consultations on the draft Stamp Duties (Amendment) Bill 2008 and the GST (Amendment) Bill 2008 to seek public feedback. This exercise will last from 28 August 2008 to 19 September 2008.

Speech by Minister for Law, Mr K Shanmugam, during the 2nd Reading of The Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill 2008 on 26 Aug 2008.

The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Law have jointly released a Consultation Paper containing a draft Civil Law (Amendment) Bill 2008 for public consultation.

The Ministry of Finance is conducting a public consultation exercise on draft guidelines for what constitutes Research & Development (R&D) for income tax purpose. This exercise will take place from 21 August 2008 to 10 September 2008.

Deputy Prime Minister and former Law Minister Prof S Jayakumar has received highest honours from the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) for his contributions to Singapore legal system.

The Ministry of Law has released a draft Moneylenders Bill 2008 for public consultation.

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, Minister-In-Charge of Population Issues and Chairman of the National Population Committee (NPC), announced the details of the enhanced 2008 Marriage and Parenthood (M&P) Package today.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has set up a grant to support companies in engaging carbon consultancy services, to develop the documentation needed for Clean Development Mechanism projects under the Kyoto Protocol. The grant will provide co-funding up to S$100,000 per project.

The Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill 2008, which is currently before the Singapore Parliament, provides for the enactment of the proposed Legal Profession (International Services) Rules 2008 and the proposed Legal Profession (Modified Application of Act for International Services) Rules 2008.

The Singapore Government has announced plans to liberalise the legal services sector, through the introduction of a Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP) Scheme. The Scheme provides for licences to be given to foreign law practices (FLPs) to practice Singapore law in permitted areas through Singapore-qualified solicitors employed by them.

Twenty-six individuals and five organisations received various National Day awards and the President’s Certificate of Commendation for their significant contributions towards the successful outcome of the Pedra Branca issue.

From 1 January 2009, all entities that are registered in Singapore, such as businesses, local companies, limited liability partnerships (LLPs), societies, representative offices, healthcare institutions and trade unions, will have a Unique Entity Number (UEN) as its identification number. This shall be used for correspondence and interaction with government agencies.

In the World Bank’s annual survey on “Doing Business” in 2007, Singapore beat 178 countries to take the top position in the “Ease of Doing Business”, and 9th in “Starting a Business” categories. Following the rankings, the World Bank had expressed interest to do a case study on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s (ACRA) e-filing system, BizFile.

The Competition Commission of Singapore (“CCS”) has, on 25 June 2008, informed the Institute of Estate Agents (“IEA”) that its Professional Fees/Commission Guidelines are likely to infringe the Competition Act. The IEA has been advised to remove its recommendation on fees and fee structures.

The Accounting Standards Council (ASC) is seeking views from the public and the charity sector on the draft accounting proposals and reporting requirements pertaining to charities and Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs).