On 18/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 18/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 18/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 31/12/2001.
15.
—(1) No sum of money standing to the credit of a member of the Fund may be withdrawn from the Fund except with the authority of the Board.
(1A) Subject to sections 14, 14A, 15A and 25(2) and (3) and any regulations and rules made under section 77, the authority under subsection (1) shall not be given except on the application of a person entitled to withdraw the money from the Fund under subsections (2) and (3).
[12/99]
(2) Subject to this section , a member of the Fund, or a committee of his person or of his estate appointed under the provisions of the Mental Disorders and Treatment Act (Cap. 178), shall be entitled to withdraw the sum standing to the credit of the member in the Fund at any time after the Board is satisfied that the member —
(a)
has attained the age of 55 years;
(b)
not being a citizen of Singapore, has left or is about to leave Singapore and the States of Malaya permanently with no intention to return thereto;
(c)
being a citizen of Malaysia has left or is about to leave Singapore permanently for the States of Malaya in such circumstances as the Minister may approve;
(d)
is physically or mentally incapacitated from ever continuing in any employment at any time before he attains the age of 55 years; or
(e)
is found to be of unsound mind at any time before he attains the age of 55 years.
[5/87]
(3) Subject to subsection (6), a member of the Fund who has withdrawn any money from the Fund on the ground that he has attained the age of 55 years shall be entitled to make one further withdrawal of the sum standing to his credit in the Fund on or after every third anniversary of his date of birth after he has attained the age of 55 years.
[5/87]
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3) but subject to subsection (6), the Board may at any time allow a member who has attained the age of 55 years to withdraw the sum standing to his credit in the Fund if the member satisfies the Board that he has been unemployed throughout the period of 6 months immediately preceding the date on which he makes an application for the withdrawal of any sum of money standing to his credit in the Fund.
[5/87]
(5) After the death of a member of the Fund, a person nominated by that member in accordance with section 25(1) shall be entitled to withdraw such portion of the sum standing to the credit of that member in the Fund as is set out in the memorandum executed in accordance with that section.
(6) Subject to subsections (6A) and (8), a member of the Fund who is entitled to withdraw the sum standing to his credit in the Fund under subsection (2)(a) shall at the time of the withdrawal set aside or top-up a prescribed sum (referred to in this Act as the minimum sum) in accordance with any regulations made under this Act.
[10/94]
(6A) Where a member and his spouse desire to set aside jointly an amount equal to one and a half times the minimum sum, the Board may permit them to set aside that amount if they have each executed a memorandum under section 25(1) nominating each other to receive the amount of the minimum sum belonging to either party on the death of the other party.
[10/94]
(6B) Any memorandum executed under subsection (6A) shall be irrevocable during the subsistence of the marriage between the members.
[10/94]
(6C) The minimum sum may be deposited with an approved bank or in a retirement account with the Board or used to purchase an approved annuity from an insurer.
[10/94]
(7) A member who has attained the age of 60 years or such other age as the Minister may prescribe shall be entitled to withdraw from the minimum sum deposited with an approved bank or in a retirement account and any interest accruing thereon in accordance with any regulations made under this Act.
[10/94]
(7A) A member who has attained the age of 55 years but has not attained the age of 60 years or such other age as the Minister may prescribe shall be entitled to withdraw the minimum sum or such part thereof as the Board may determine from his account with an approved bank or his retirement account or surrender his approved annuity from an insurer if the Board is satisfied that the member is —
(a)
physically or mentally incapacitated from ever continuing in any employment;
(b)
found to be of unsound mind;
(c)
suffering from a terminal illness or disease; or
(d)
receiving a pension, annuity or other benefit as may be approved which will provide him with a monthly income of not less in value than the amount prescribed by the Minister.
[10/94]
(8) A member need not deposit the minimum sum with an approved bank or in a retirement account or use the minimum sum to purchase an approved annuity from an insurer if the Board is satisfied that the member —
(a)
is suffering from a terminal illness or disease;
(b)
on his retirement will receive a pension, annuity or other benefit as may be approved which will provide him with a monthly income of not less in value than the amount prescribed by the Minister; or
(c)
has attained the age of 55 years before 1st January 1987.
[5/87]
(9) Where a member or his spouse owns any immovable property of a value equal to or exceeding the minimum sum, the Board may permit the member —
(a)
to withdraw the minimum sumfrom his account with an approved bank or his retirement account; or
(b)
to surrender his approved annuity,
if the member or his spouse, as the case may be, agrees to the creation of a charge on the immovable property owned by him or his spouse, to secure the payment to the Board of the minimum sum for any of the purposes mentioned in subsection (6).
[5/87; 39/2000]
(9A) Where a member and one or more related persons jointly own any immovable property of a value equal to or exceeding the minimum sum, the Board may permit the member —
(a)
to withdraw the minimum sum or part thereof from his account with an approved bank or his retirement account; or
(b)
to surrender his approved annuity,
if the member and the related person or persons, as the case may be, agree to the creation of a charge on the immovable property owned by them to secure the payment to the Board of the minimum sum for any of the purposes mentioned in subsection (6).
[39/2000]
(10) Where a member or his spouse or both of them jointly own any immovable property sold by a Housing Authority or by a lessee of a Housing Authority, the Board may permit the member —
(a)
to withdraw the minimum sum or part thereof from his account with an approved bank or his retirement account; or
(b)
to surrender his approved annuity,
if the member or his spouse (or both of them), as the case may be, gives an undertaking to refund to the Board an amount equal to the minimum sum or part thereof which he is required to set aside for the purposes of subsection (6) in the event the property is sold or otherwise disposed of.
[5/87]
(10A) Where a member and one or more persons jointly own any immovable property sold by a Housing Authority or by a lessee of a Housing Authority, the Board may permit the member —
(a)
to withdraw the minimum sum or part thereof from his account with an approved bank or his retirement account; or
(b)
to surrender his approved annuity,
if the member and the person or persons, as the case may be, give an undertaking to refund to the Board an amount equal to the minimum sum or part thereof which the member is required to set aside for any of the purposes mentioned in subsection (6) in the event the property is sold or otherwise disposed of.
[39/2000]
(11) Where a member has withdrawn any money from the Fund for the purchase of an immovable property from a Housing Authority or from a lessee of a Housing Authority pursuant to any regulations made under section 77 and the sum standing to the credit of the member in the Fund at the time he attains the age of 55 years is less than the minimum sum, the member shall, in the event the property is sold or otherwise disposed of, refund to the Board from the proceeds of sale or other disposition, an amount sufficient to cover the deficiency in the minimum sum.
[5/87]
(12) No moneys deposited in an account with an approved bank or in a retirement account under subsection (6C) and no withdrawals made by a member from that account with an approved bank or from a retirement account and no payments received by a member from an approved annuity purchased with the minimum sum shall be liable to be attached, sequestered or levied upon for or in respect of any debt or claim.
(13) Such moneys, withdrawals and payments mentioned in subsection (12) shall not pass to the Official Assignee on the bankruptcy of the member.
(14) If the member is adjudicated a bankruptor is declared insolvent by a court, such moneys, withdrawals and payments shall be deemed not to form part of his after-acquired property.
[5/87; 10/94]
(15) The following provisions shall apply to a charge created over any immovable property under subsection (9) or (9A):
(a)
the charge shall be subject to all prior statutory rights and charges of any public authority over the immovable property and to all encumbrances registered or notified prior to the date of the notification of the charge;
(b)
upon lodgment by the Board with the Registrar of an instrument (which shall be in such form as the Registrar may require) for the purpose of registering or notifying the charge and the acceptance of the instrument by the Registrar, the Board shall have —
(i)
the power of sale and all other powers relating or incidental thereto as if the Board is a registered mortgagee; and
(ii)
the power to sell, assign and dispose of all rights, benefits and interests under the agreement for the sale and purchase of the immovable property;
(c)
the charge shall extend to all the rights, benefits and interests of the member or his spouse, or the member and the related person or persons, as the case may be, under his or their agreement for sale and purchase of the immovable property;
(d)
the Registrar shall not be concerned to enquire into the regularity or validity of the charge, and shall, on acceptance of the instrument to register or notify the charge, register or notify the charge in the appropriate register maintained by the Registrar under the Land Titles Act (Cap. 157), the Land Titles (Strata) Act (Cap. 158) or the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269), as the case may be;
(e)
the charge shall on the application of the member or any other person having an interest in the property be cancelled if the Board is satisfied of the occurrence of any one of the following events:
(i)
the death of the member;
(ii)
if the member is suffering from a terminal illness or disease;
(iii)
if the member has complied with the requirements of subsection (6);
(iv)
if the minimum sum set aside by the member under subsection (6) has been exhausted on account of withdrawals made by him under subsection (7); or
(v)
if the member satisfies any of the grounds for withdrawals under subsection (2)(b) or (c).
[5/87; 39/2000]
(16) In this section and section 15B —
“approved”, in relation to a bank or an annuity from an insurer, means approved by the Board for the purposes of this section;
“Housing Authority” has the same meaning as in section 28;
“related person”, in relation to a member, means —
(a)
his spouse;
(b)
a child of the member, including an adopted child and a step-child;
(c)
a father or mother of the member;
(d)
a brother or sister of the member;
(e)
a grandchild of the member;
(f)
a grandparent of the member; or
(g)
any other person who in the opinion of the Board should be regarded as a related person for the purposes of this section.
[39/2000]