Office Space for Rental @ Suntec City Tower 1 - 21.08.2008

Office Space for Rental @ Suntec City Tower 1 - 21.08.2008

Location : Suntec City Tower 1, 33th Floor

Description: Fully fitted & partitioned with tables, chairs & internet/ cable lines ready, total 6 rooms including conference room, MNC’s first choice, good location, high floor with good panaromic view, near banks, hotels, conference, exhibition and shopping facilities. Very high tech, ‘A’ class commercial building.

Area : abt. 2,200 square feet.

Total Rental per month : S$ 35,000 FOR RENT

Availability: Immediate

Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest, in Singapore

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Draft Moneylenders Bill released for public feedback - Singapore

Draft Moneylenders Bill released for public feedback - Singapore

New bill to relax some controls, enhance regulation

By LYNETTE KHOO

(SINGAPORE) The government yesterday released a draft Moneylenders Bill (MLB) 2008 for public consultation. The bill will replace the current Moneylenders Act (MLA).

The bill, if passed, will relax some existing controls on moneylending and enhance the regulatory and enforcement framework. One major change being proposed involves doing away with a cap on interest rates that a licensed moneylender can charge.

The Ministry of Law said the review of the MLA was prompted by major changes in the moneylending landscape.

Moneylenders who are licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore will continue to be exempted under the MLB. So, too, would be persons who grant staff loans and persons who grant loans to corporations or loans to accredited investors as defined under Section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act.

Among the controls that will be removed is the restriction for licensed moneylender to operate only from one location. Under the new bill, it can operate from more than one location with prior approval from the Registrar of Moneylenders and subject to conditions.

The MLB will also remove the cap on interest rate that a licensed moneylender can charge, which is currently 18 per cent per annum for unsecured loans and 12 per cent per annum for secured loans.

The prohibition against the charging of compounded interest will be removed, in line with the practices of financial institutions. Under the new bill, the Minister has more discretion to prescribe different interest rates for different classes of loans or borrowers.

‘With these measures, moneylenders will have greater flexibility to determine the interest charges based on market forces and their risk assessment,’ the Ministry of Law said.

To bring non-interest-related fees by licensed moneylenders in line with financial institutions, the bill proposes to give the Minister the discretion and power to prescribe the types and quantum of fees that may be charged.

There will be greater flexibility in the mode of disbursing and repaying of loans under the MLB. Licensed moneylenders can disburse loans by means other than a crossed cheque. Borrowers can also repay any amount of their loans via electronic funds transfer or in cash. These practices are restricted under the MLA.

While relaxing some controls, the government has no intention to loosen its regulation and enforcement. The MLB will give the Registrar more grounds for refusing to issue, revoking and suspending a licence, and by empowering the Registrar to impose and amend conditions of licence.

The bill will also require licensed moneylenders to maintain certain standards in their practices in addition to existing requirements. This includes only granting loans on application by a borrower in writing and informing a prospective borrower on the terms of the loan before granting the loan.

The Registrar will be given greater investigative powers. This allows it to inspect premises, documents and records without notice, and to make a copy of documents inspected, take photographs of the premises, seize any document, record, document or data storage equipment. It can also issue directions to moneylenders.

The consultation period will end on Sept 12. The public can send their feedback to the Registry of Moneylenders in electronic or hard copy.

Source : Business Times - 21 Aug 2008

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Mindy Yong

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Singapore Private dating agencies get $4m boost for activities

Singapore Private dating agencies get $4m boost for activities

SELECTED private dating agencies will get extra arrows to fit onto their Cupid’s bow, courtesy of the Government.
It will provide them with $4 million a year in funding to provide subsidised ’social interaction’ programmes for singles.

These agencies will, however, need to be accredited by the Government.

The first batch of accredited agencies is likely to be announced in October.

There are about 200 such bodies in Singapore, which charge between $50 and $200 monthly for membership.

The funds will be administered by a new body made up of the merger of government matchmaking agencies Social Development Unit and Social Development Service.

The merged body, yet unnamed, will reach out to singles in general, beyond its members.

So it will set up a network of full-time officers to create opportunities for singles to interact at various platforms such as workplaces, community clubs, public sector agencies and companies.

They will plan activities and organise talks and workshops.

They will also organise classes at junior colleges and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) from Jan 1 next year. These will touch on matters like social etiquette, relationships, and personal grooming and communication skills.

The number of singles has increased steadily over the years. For instance, the proportion of single men in the 30 to 34 age group has increased from 30.7 per cent in 2000, to 34.7 per cent last year.

But surveys conducted by the Government found most singles want to get married and have children.

Source : Straits Times - 21 Aug 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

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Big perks for big families

Big perks for big families

From Jan, parents will get more leave, bigger Baby Bonus and pay less tax

By Lee Siew Hua, Senior Political Correspondent

FROM next January, parents will receive a bonanza of tax benefits, generous leave and other child-linked perks.
The package to boost births will cost the Government $1.6 billion, double the current budget, and benefit a wider spectrum of the population.

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said the idea is to create a ‘family-friendly’ Singapore, where marriage is regarded as important, and couples view having children as something joyful.

‘As a result, they would want to have more children,’ he said on Tuesday, when he presented the media with details of the enhanced Marriage and Parenthood package unveiled by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday.

Since his inaugural 2004 National Day Rally, Mr Lee has sharpened national focus on the long-term challenge of lifting the fertility rate of 1.29 closer to the replacement level of 2.1.

The tax incentives in the latest package will benefit all parents and extend beyond the fourth child. For each child, parents can claim $4,000 in child tax relief, instead of $2,000.

Working mothers too can claim more: 15 per cent for the first child instead of 5 per cent, for instance.

In total, the amount parents can claim for a child each year has doubled to $50,000, from $25,000.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, one of six ministers who met the media, said: ‘We are effectively making a shift in our tax system towards a further cut in taxes that favours those with families.’

The various tax reliefs, including what now exists, can add up to 16 tax-free years for a dual-income couple who make $50,000 a year and have three children.

For a couple with three children and earning $100,000, the savings can be 70 per cent over 10 years.

Apart from tax perks, a bigger cash Baby Bonus will be given for the first and second child: $4,000 instead of $3,000.

Leave for both mothers and fathers will be more generous.

Paid maternity leave will go up from 12 to 16 weeks for mums of Singaporean children. The last eight weeks can be taken any time over a year from the child’s birth, which may be less disruptive for bosses.

Unpaid infant care leave has been introduced, giving each parent six days a year when the child is less than two years’ old.

Also, paid childcare leave will be extended to six days a year for each parent when the child is below age six.

Pregnant workers will also receive more protection. Bosses have to give them maternity leave benefits if they are fired without good cause within the last six months of pregnancy. These benefits will also be given if a woman is retrenched in the last three months of her pregnancy.

From next month, the Government will co-pay fertility treatments for women under 40, but the treatment must be at public hospitals.

It will fund half the cost - up to $3,000 - of each cycle of Assisted Reproduction Technology treatments, for a maximum of three cycles.

While the Government is keen to help Singaporeans have children, DPM Wong, the minister in charge of population issues and chairman of the National Population Committee, stressed that ‘getting married and having children is a very personal matter’.

‘Singaporeans have to decide when to take that step. But what the Government can do is to create a more family-friendly environment,’ he said.

Source : Straits Times - 21 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com