2024年4月3日，新加坡貿工部兼文化、社區及青年部政務部長陳聖輝在國會對合作社動用儲備金支付股息，需要通過哪些審批機制的問題，做出了回答。

陳聖輝

新加坡貿工部兼文化、社區及青年部政務部長

丹戎巴葛集選區議員

以下內容為新加坡眼根據國會英文資料翻譯整理：

新加坡貿工部兼文化、社區、青年部政務部長陳聖輝：議長先生，在回答議員們的問題之前，我想藉此機會對您多年來在合作社發展過程中和您擔任國家合作社聯合會（SNCF）主席期間的貢獻表示感謝、認同和讚賞。議員們已經非常堅定、深刻認同合作社在新加坡社會發展中的貢獻，因此，謝謝您這些年所做的工作。

首先我要談談動用儲備金的保障措施的必要性問題。議員李堅輝把合作社動用儲備金支付股息和一般公司從留存收益中支付股息進行了比較，他還提到，這對合作社特別是信用合作社來說可能是一個問題，因為動用儲備金會減少它們的機構資本，從而降低它們的資本充足率（CAR）。議員李堅輝還問到當合作社用儲備金來支付股息時，有哪些保障措施來確保這樣的決定是審慎的。

當前，合作社只能用當年的盈餘來支付股息。我們建議在獲得註冊官批准後，合作社將被許可動用儲備金來支付股息和酬金。合作社僅可動用其一般的、未分配的儲備金，如「累計盈餘」和專門用於支付股息或酬金的儲備金。我們將發布指南明確這一事項。

我也同意議員李堅輝先生關於合作社必須保持充足的緩衝資本和要保障成員利益的觀點。用儲備金支付股息或酬金的保障措施有兩層。

首先，合作社必須取得註冊官的批准。註冊官也要綜合考量有關因素，諸如與往年相比，提議的利率是否合理，過往的合規記錄，管理的能力，尤其是信用合作社必須同時證明在支付提議的股息或酬金後，它們能夠滿足現行的最低資本充足率。其次，合作社的這一決定必須得到它的成員的批准。

第二類問題涉及註冊官的批准過程。議員尼爾·帕雷克、議員黃文鴻和議員葉漢榮提出了有關從儲備金中支付的批准程序及其影響的問題。

註冊官將向合作社發布指南，這些指南將為合作社設定明確的條件，說明合作社需要提交或提供給註冊官的信息和文件。註冊官可以集中審查滿足這些條件的合作社。

在獲得註冊官的批准後，合作社必須在其年度股東大會上通過特定決議來獲得成員的批准，同時也確保了儲備金使用信息的充分披露。成員可以參考合作社提交的審計財務報表，這使得他們能夠在做出決策前了解這些支付對儲備金的財務影響（如有）。合作社必須在財年結束後的六個月內召開年度股東大會，因此有足夠的時間在召開年度股東大會之前獲得註冊官的批准。

議員葉漢榮還提議建立審查和監控機制，確保法案變更後仍能夠達到其預期目標。我們將監督變革後的實施情況，並適時在需要的地方，改進行政程序，以促進合作社的運作，並保證保障措施的到位。

第三類問題涉及議員關於審查股息上限的提問。在現行法律框架下，合作社每年支付的股息不得超過實繳股本或認購資本的10%。

議員朱倍慶詢問國家文化、社區及青年部（MCCY）是否可以允許管理較好的合作社向其成員分配更多的股息。葉議員詢問我們是否可以採用差異化的方法，為管理良好的合作社提供更多的靈活性。

我想對此做出兩點說明。首先，正如大家所知，基於合作社的結構和社會使命，它們與其他公司有著本質的不同。合作社的儲備金是通過過去和現在的合作社管理人員和成員的集體努力，經過多年慢慢積累起來的。這些儲備金對合作社穩定運營非常重要，幫助他們應對任何損失或不可預見事件影響。因此，合作社在使用其儲備金時必須非常謹慎。

現行的10%股息上限旨在幫助合作社實現其首要的財務穩健發展和可持續性，同時履行其社會使命和目標和滿足其成員的特定需求。雖然一些人可能會將合作社的股息支付與其他公司的股息支付進行比較，但大多數大型上市公司的股息收益率通常不會超過10%。合作社的股息上限也反映了其在為成員提供可觀回報與保留資金用於經營增長二者之間的平衡，因此，現行的上限對大多數合作社來說是足夠的。

其次，我們認識到合作社涉及行業的廣泛多樣性。一些合作社規模大且運營專業，而另一些則規模較小，主要由志願者運營。自然地，它們的管理能力和儲備金的規模存在差異。國家文化、社區、青年部將進一步研究，以評估如何滿足不同類型合作社的需求，同時確保有足夠的保障措施來保護成員的利益以及合作社的長期財務穩健和可持續發展。

第四類問題涉及修改法規以促進合作社的運作。我將談談在促進合作社運行方面，兩項法案的保障措施。議員黃文鴻和議員葉漢榮問到，減少申請註冊章程修正案所需簽名的提議將如何影響問責制，確保權利不被濫用。

依據現行立法要求，章程修正案首先需要在會員大會中獲得成員批准。召開會員大會時，修正案的決議必須由出席並參加投票的成員中至少四分之三的成員通過。合作社必須隨後提交大會決議的摘錄以及申請表，確保合作社已按照規定程序召開會員大會，並且成員已正式批准了修正案。多數合作社在將章程修正案提交會員大會之前，也會徵求註冊機構的意見。這一慣例將保持下去。

未完待续,请点击[下一页]继续阅读

{nextpage}

以下是英文質詢內容：

The Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth (Mr Alvin Tan):

First, let me address the need for the safeguards for use of reserves. Mr Mark Lee commented that allowing co-ops to pay dividends from their reserves contrasts with the corporate practice of paying out dividends only from retained profits. He made a comparison. Mr Mark Lee also noted that this may be of concern for credit co-ops particularly given that the drawdown of reserves would reduce their institutional capital and therefore their CAR. Mr Mark Lee also asked about the safeguards to help credit co-ops make prudent decisions as they pay dividends from their reserves.

Currently, a co-op may only pay dividends from the preceding year's surplus. We propose to allow them to tap their reserves to pay dividends and honoraria, subject to the Registrar's approval. This will allow co-ops to tap only on their general, unallocated reserves, such as the "Accumulated Surplus" and reserves allocated specifically to the payment of dividends or honoraria as the case may be. This will be made clear to co-ops through issued guidelines.

I also agree with Mr Mark Lee that credit co-ops must maintain adequate capital buffers and ensure adequate safeguards to protect members' interests. There are two layers of safeguards over using reserves to pay dividends or honoraria.

First, co-ops must seek the Registrar's approval. The Registrar will also consider factors, like reasonableness of proposed rates compared to previous years, past compliance track records of the co-op's, strength of governance and particularly for credit co-ops, if these credit co-ops have met prudential requirements. Credit co-ops must also demonstrate that they can meet the prevailing minimum CAR after their proposed dividend or honoraria payment. Second, of course, co-ops must obtain members' approval.

Moving on to the second category of questions on the process for Registrar's approval, Mr Neil Parekh, Mr Don Wee and Mr Yip Hon Weng asked questions regarding the obtaining of Registrar's approval for payment from reserves and the impact that this approval may have.

The Registrar will issue guidelines to co-ops on the information and documents that co-ops need to submit or provide to the Registrar. These will set clear expectations for co-ops on the pre-requisites for the application and allow the Registry to focus on co-ops which satisfy the pre-requisites.

Upon receiving Registrar’s approval, the co-op must seek members』 approval with a specific resolution at their AGM. This will ensure adequate disclosure on the proposed use of reserves. Members will also be able to refer to the co-op’s audited financial statements, which will also be tabled for members』 approval. This enables members to understand the financial impact of such payments on the reserves, if any, before making an informed decision. Co-ops must hold their AGMs within six months from the financial year-end, so there is enough time for them to obtain Registrar’s approval before conducting their AGM.

未完待续,请点击[下一页]继续阅读

{nextpage}

Mr Yip Hon Weng also proposed a review and monitoring mechanism to ensure that this and other legislative changes are meeting their intended objectives. We will monitor implementation of the new changes and will refine the administrative processes over time, if and where necessary, and this is to facilitate co-ops' operations and to ensure that there are adequate safeguards in place.

The third category refers to Members' questions on the review of the dividend cap. Under the current legislative framework, a co-op must not pay a dividend on paid-up share capital or subscription capital exceeding 10% per annum. Mr Choo asked if MCCY can allow better governed co-ops to distribute more to their members. Mr Yip asked if we can apply a differentiated approach to allow for more flexibility for co-ops with better fiduciary governance.

I thought it was important for me to make two points to these suggestions. First, as Members already know, co-ops are uniquely different from other corporates due to their membership-based structure and social mission. Co-ops』 reserves are built up slowly over years through collective efforts by past and present co-op officers and members. These reserves are therefore very critical for them to meet any losses or operational needs due to unforeseen events. Co-ops must therefore very be prudent when using their reserves.

The current 10% dividend seeks to help co-ops to prioritise their long-term financial health and sustainability, while fulfilling their social mission and objectives, and also their members』 specific needs. While some may compare dividend payments to that of other corporates, the dividend yields for most larger public listed companies typically do not exceed 10%. The dividend cap for co-ops also reflects a balance between providing decent returns to their members and retaining funds for co-ops』 operations and growth. As such, the current cap would generally be adequate for co-ops.

Second, we recognise the broad diversity of our co-op sector. Some are large-scale and professionally run, while others are smaller and mainly volunteer-run. Naturally, governance capabilities and the size of reserves across this whole spectrum vary. MCCY will study this further to assess how to meet the needs of different types of co-ops across this spectrum, while ensuring adequate safeguards to protect members』 interests as well as co-ops』 long-term financial health and sustainability.

The fourth category of questions relate to amendments to facilitate co-ops』 operations. I will now address queries on the safeguards for two amendments aimed at facilitating co-ops』 operations. Mr Don Wee and Mr Yip Hon Weng asked how the proposed reduction of signatories required for an application to register by-law amendments would impact accountability and also to prevent abuse.

Sir, the legislation will continue to require amendments to by-laws to first be approved by members at a general meeting or a referendum. In the case of a general meeting, the resolution to make amendments must be passed by at least three-quarters of the members present and voting. The co-op must thereafter submit an extract of the resolution of the general meeting to the Registrar together with the application form. This will help ensure that the co-op had followed due process in calling for the general meeting and that members have duly approved the amendments. Most co-ops would also have sought Registry’s comments on the proposed by-law amendments prior to tabling them at the general meeting. We will continue with this general practice.

未完待续,请点击[下一页]继续阅读

{nextpage}

FS丨編輯

HQ丨編審

新加坡國會丨來源