The Ministry of Law will be passing a new legislation, entitled “COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill”.
The new law will enable companies’ whose businesses have been adversely affected by Covid-19 to seek relief from fulfilling their contractual obligations such as paying rent, paying instalments on bank loans, fulfilling their construction contracts, etc for a period of six months. The bill will be read in Parliament and come into effect in mid-April. This legislation should be seen as part of an overall package containing the two budgets and the measures from MAS and the banks.
The objectives of the Bill are (i) to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on companies’ ability to perform contractual obligations through narrow, temporary reliefs, and (ii) to discourage and minimise costly and time-consuming legal proceedings involving disputes arising from/caused by COVID-19. The Bill will also temporarily increase the threshold for a creditor to initiate insolvency/bankruptcy proceedings against a debtor.
Importantly, please note that the outstanding payments are not waived/extinguished. They remain outstanding and recoverable after the relief period ends.
Attached are the following documents for your reference and dissemination to your relevant staff and colleagues:-
- Press Release – COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill
- FAQs regarding the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill
- Briefing Deck for the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill
- Infographic summarizing the key points COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill
In addition, please note the following links for your convenient reference.
| ESG’s business advisory
|
www.enterprisesg.gov.sg/covid-19 |
| Tightened safe distancing measures for F&B establishments, retail establishments, shopping malls and standalone stores
(for strict compliance from 7 April to 4 May) |
www.enterprisesg.gov.sg/covid-19/safe-distance
|
| The most updated list of essential services exempted from the suspension of workplace activities | https://covid.gobusiness.gov.sg/essentialservices |
| Applications for exemptions and declaration for companies which provide essential services | http://www.covid.gobusiness.gov.sg |
| The latest COVID-19 resources from MCI
(posters in all four languages) |
https://www.gov.sg/article/covid-19-resources |
As per previous mailer, please note that ALL companies and their respective sub-contractors that come under essential services category will still be required to submit their safe distancing measures and company level information to http://www.covid.gobusiness.gov.sg.
If you have any queries regarding these measures, or any feedback on the measures introduced so far (including this one), please do not hesitate to write to us at general@cdasalliance.sg .
