Co-operative Societies Act 1979

Co-operative Societies Act 1979 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to make better provision for the registration and regulation of co-operative societies, and for matters connected therewith. [1 January 1980] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Co-operative Societies Act 1979. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “allowance” means the remuneration paid to a member of the committee of management of a society in consideration of the member’s voluntary services rendered to the society on a regular basis; “apex organisation” means an organisation established to facilitate the operations of all primary and secondary societies in Singapore; “Assistant Registrar” means an Assistant Registrar of Co‑operative Societies appointed under section 3(1); “audit committee”, in relation to a credit society, means the audit committee of the credit society referred to in section 36; “auditor”, in relation to a society, means any person referred to in section 33(1) or 36(4)(b); “authorised person”, in relation to a matter, means a person who is authorised by the Registrar in writing to act on behalf of the Registrar in relation to the matter; “body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership; “by-laws” means the registered by-laws made by a society in the exercise of any power conferred by this Act, and includes a registered amendment of the by-laws; “Central Co-operative Fund” means the fund established under section 71; “committee of management” means the governing body (by whatever name called) of a society which is responsible for the management of the affairs of the society; “credit society” means a society which is registered as a credit society; “delegate” means — (a) a representative of a certain number of individual members of a primary society in which the general meeting of members is replaced by a meeting of delegates; (b) a representative of an institutional member who has been appointed to attend and who is entitled to vote; or (c) a representative of a society which is itself a member of another society, the meetings of which the representative has been elected or appointed to attend, and at which the representative is entitled to vote under the by-laws of that other society; “deposit” means money received on current or deposit account and includes subscription capital, but does not include — (a) a deposit that is paid pursuant to a hire-purchase agreement, or that is referable to the provision of services or to the giving of security; and (b) such other deposit as may be prescribed; “Deputy Registrar” means a Deputy Registrar of Co‑operative Societies appointed under section 3(1); “dividend” means a portion of the net surplus or the reserves (if approved under section 72A) of a society distributed among the members of the society in proportion to either or both of the following: (a) the paid‑up share capital held by the members in the society; (b) the subscription capital held by the members in the society; [Act 17 of 2024 wef 18/07/2024] “electronic form” means the form of an electronic record as defined in section 2(1) of the Electronic Transactions Act 2010; “financial service” means receiving deposits, granting loans, or such other service of a financial nature as may be prescribed, other than in relation to the carrying on of insurance business within the meaning of the Insurance Act 1966; “hard copy form” means a paper form or similar form capable of being read by a human being without using any other device; “honorarium” means a portion of the net surplus or the reserves (if approved under section 72A) of a society distributed among some or all of the members of the committee of management in consideration of their services which would not otherwise be remunerated; [Act 17 of 2024 wef 18/07/2024] “institutional member” means a society, a trade union or a platform work association; [Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/11/2024] “key employee” means an individual who holds any of the following appointments, or who purports to act in any of the following capacities, whether or not for reward: (a) a chief executive officer (whether called general manager or otherwise); (b) a chief operating officer; (c) a chief financial officer; (d) a chief investment officer; (e) an appointment analogous to any appointment mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d); “limited liability partnership” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; “member” includes an individual person or institution qualifying for membership in a co-operative society, who or which join in the application for the registration of a society, and an individual person or institution admitted to membership after registration in accordance with this Act, the Rules and the by-laws; “net surplus” means the remaining portion of the surplus after provisions have been made for the Central Co-operative Fund and the Singapore Labour Foundation in accordance with section 71; “non-credit society” means a society that is not a credit society; “officer” includes a chairperson, vice‑chairperson, director, secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer, assistant treasurer, member of committee of management, employee, internal auditor, liquidator or other person empowered under this Act, the Rules or the by-laws, to give directives in regard to the business of a society or to supervise the business; “ordinary share” means an ordinary share issued under section 66A; “parent society” means a society with one or more subsidiaries; “past officer”, in relation to any obligation imposed under this Act, means a person who at any time before the occurrence of the obligation was, or performed the duties of, an officer; “patronage refund” means a portion of the net surplus of a society distributed among its members in proportion to the volume of business done by them with the society from which the surplus of the society was derived; “permanent share” means a permanent share issued under section 66B; “platform work association” means a platform work association registered under the Platform Workers Act 2024; [Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/11/2024] “primary society” means a society all of whose members are individual persons who, or institutions which, have the qualifications for membership set out in section 39; “proposed society” means an association of persons seeking registration as a society; “public accountant” means a person who is registered or deemed to be registered under the Accountants Act 2004 as a public accountant; “registered” means registered under this Act; “Registrar” means the Registrar of Co‑operative Societies appointed under section 3(1), and includes a Deputy Registrar, an Assistant Registrar, or a public officer appointed under section 3(1), exercising such function, duty or power of the Registrar as is delegated to the Deputy Registrar, Assistant Registrar or public officer (as the case may be) under section 3(2); “reserves” means the assets of a society that are in excess of its liabilities, paid-up share capital, subscription capital and other deposits; [Act 17 of 2024 wef 18/07/2024] “Rules” means rules made under section 95; “secondary society” means a society, each of whose registered members is a co‑operative society, a trade union or a platform work association; [Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/11/2024] “share” means a unit of the share capital or subscription capital of a society; “Singapore Labour Foundation” means the Singapore Labour Foundation established under the Singapore Labour Foundation Act 1977; “society” means a co-operative society registered under this Act and includes a primary society, a secondary society and an apex organisation; “subscription capital” means a regular obligatory savings deposit (made by members in accordance with the by‑laws) which is intended to serve as guarantee capital for loans taken or guaranteed by a member and which may not be withdrawn except for such specific purposes and under such conditions as are laid down in the by-laws or except on a termination of membership; “subsidiary”, in relation to a society, means any body corporate (including another society) or body unincorporate which is controlled by the society; “surplus” means the economic results of a society as shown in the audited financial statements of that society after provisions have been made for depreciation and bad debts but does not include, in the case of an insurance co‑operative, that portion of the surplus used for declaration of bonus to policy‑holders or retained in the insurance fund; “trade union” means a trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act 1940; “written direction” means a written direction issued under section 93(2). [3/2018] (2) For the purposes of this Act, a society is deemed to control a body corporate or body unincorporate if, and only if, the society is in a position to determine or govern the financial and operating policies of the body corporate or body unincorporate. (3) For the purposes of this Act, a society is insolvent if it has insufficient assets to cover its liabilities. (4) In this Act, where there is a reference to a number of clear days between 2 events, that number of days is exclusive of the days on which those 2 events happen. [3/2018] Appointment of Registrar, etc. 3.—(1) The Minister may appoint a Registrar of Co‑operative Societies, one or more Deputy Registrars of Co‑operative Societies and Assistant Registrars of Co‑operative Societies, and such other public officers as the Minister thinks necessary for the administration of this Act. [3/2018] (2) The Registrar of Co‑operative Societies may, subject to the provisions of this Act and to any general or special directions of the Minister, delegate any of the Registrar’s functions, duties and powers under this Act to a Deputy Registrar, an Assistant Registrar or a public officer appointed under subsection (1), except the power of delegation conferred by this subsection. [3/2018] (3) [Deleted by Act 17 of 2024 wef 18/07/2024]