SPURIOUS INVESTMENT SCHEMES (Protection of Singaporeans)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Dr Toh See Kiat asked the Minister for Finance if any steps are being taken by his Ministry to protect the average Singaporean from spurious investment schemes, such as those offering huge returns from ordinary agricultural products; those operated by bucket shops churning investors' money and biting off big chunks of "commission" for that churning; and wild claims of investment value made by time-share resort sellers.

The Minister for Finance (Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau): Mr Speaker, Sir, Government is aware of the problems posed by the unregulated soft commodities firms which trick Singaporeans into investing in commodities by promising them very high returns on their investments. The Commercial Affairs Department investigates and prosecutes operators of spurious investment schemes, especially if they have the intention to defraud.

In addition, Government is studying the possibility of using legislation to regulate such activities. The Ministry is also looking into the relevant legislation with a view to regulate time-share resorts. One possibility is to make it a statutory requirement for promoters of time-share schemes to issue a statement disclosing various information to members of the public in the same way that promoters of other investment schemes are currently obliged to do so.