BENEFICIARIES TO CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND ACCOUNTS (Exclusion of New Singapore Shares)

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BENEFICIARIES TO CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND ACCOUNTS:

(Exclusion of New Singapore Shares): 3.

Dr Chong Weng Chiew asked the Acting Minister for Manpower if the nominations of beneficiaries of Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts do not include New Singapore Shares and, if so, whether CPF account holders have been informed of this.

The Acting Minister for Manpower (Dr Ng Eng Hen): Sir, as the New Singapore Shares (NSS) are not CPF funds, CPF Nomination does not apply. Instead, the NSS forms part of the estate of the deceased, as with other assets. This means that if an NSS owner passes away before 1st March 2007, his or her NSS will immediately be exchanged for cash and handed to the Public Trustee for estate distribution to the dependants.

If the deceased has made a will, the encashed NSS will be distributed according to the beneficiaries nominated by the deceased in his will.

CPF Members were informed of the treatment for distribution of their shares through the NSS website and the booklet

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which was sent to all members. These booklets were also available at CPF branches. The treatment of the shares is also stated in the CPF Nomination Handbook.

The CPF Board has received requests from the public for the New Singapore Shares to be distributed according to CPF Nomination. The New Singapore Shares Trust Deed will need to be changed in order to provide for this. The Government is currently looking into this, and will inform the public of the outcome in due course.