The National Computer Board (NCB) has just released the Electronic Transactions Certificate Authority (CA) Regulations for the licensing of
CA’s in Singapore.
All CA’s, including foreign companies operating in Singapore, who meet the
NCB’s operational, financial, and security criteria can apply for the
license. They have to pay an application fee of S$5,000 (US$2,954). An annual
licensing fee of S$1,000 (US$591) and a banker’s guarantee of S$1 million apply once
the license is approved.
A licensed CA will enjoy the benefits of evidentiary presumption for
digital signatures generated from the certificate it issues. With such a
presumption, the onus is on the party disputing the signature to prove
otherwise.
Other benefits include limitations in liability as prescribed in the
Electronic Transactions Act (ETA) enacted in 1998. As long as the CA has
complied with the requirements under the ETA and the CA Regulations, it
will not be liable for any loss caused by a subscriber’s reliance on a
forged digital signature. In the event that a licensed CA failed to observe
some of its obligations, the CA will only be liable up to the reliance
limit specified in the certificate.
“The ETA makes all digital signatures as legally binding as hand-written
signatures,” said Charles Lim, deputy head of the Attorney-General’s
Chambers’ legislation division, “and the CA Regulations provide for the
licensing of CA’s. You will not have the presumption of the law if [there
are no] licensed CA’s. Some parts of the Act do not work if there are no
licensed CA’s.”
The CA licensing scheme is voluntary and is more akin to an ISO-type
certification, said Stephen Yeo, chief executive of the NCB, who has just
been appointed NCB’s controller of CA’s.
With the launch of this new scheme, the NCB will be the regulatory agency
for CA’s in Singapore. The controller will regulate, license, and oversee
CA’s’ activities in Singapore.
The NCB will also be divesting its shares in Netrust Pte Ltd., the first CA
in South East Asia and a joint venture between the NCB and Network for
Electronic Transfers (Singapore) Pte Ltd. (NETS).
Currently, the NCB has a 51 percent stake in Netrust.
We are going to talk to NETS first about selling the shares to them, said
Goh Seow Hiong, NCB’s assistant controller of CA’s. “If they are not
interested, we will open it to the commercial sector.”
Goh said besides commercial companies, potential buyers include any
government body who is interested in the business of CA’s.
“It will require two to three months to divest our shares in Netrust,” said
Yeo.
