Search
The Laws of Fiji
Last Updated: 1 December 2016

[MOL 16] Note or memorandum of moneylender's contract to be given to the borrower16 

16
(1) No contract for the repayment by a borrower or his or her agent of money lent to him or her or to any agent on his or her behalf by a moneylender or his or her agent after the commencement of this Act or for the payment by him or her of interest on money so lent, and no security given by the borrower or by any such agent as aforesaid in respect of any such contract, shall be enforceable unless a note or memorandum in writing of the contract in the English language be signed by the parties to the contract or their respective agents or, in the case of a loan to a partnership firm, by a partner in or agent of the firm, and unless a copy thereof authenticated by the lender or his or her agent be delivered to the borrower or his or her agent or, in the case of a loan to a partnership firm, to a partner in or agent of the firm, before the money is lent, and no such contract or security shall be enforceable if it is proved that the note or memorandum aforesaid was not so signed before the money was lent or before the security was given as the case may be, provided that—
  • (a)where a security is given to secure an immediate loan and subsequent loans the security shall be enforceable in respect of any subsequent loan thereby secured if the note or memorandum in respect of such subsequent loan be signed and delivered to the borrower before the money shall be lent;
  • (b)where a security is given to secure an immediate loan and subsequent loans, and the terms both of the immediate loan and of the subsequent loans are set out in the document constituting the security, it shall not be necessary for the note or memorandum in respect of any such subsequent loan to set out the terms thereof, but a reference in such note or memorandum to the abovementioned security shall be sufficient for the purposes of this section if the note or memorandum contains the particulars referred to in subsection (3)(a), (b) and (c).

[subs (1) insrt Ordinance 48 of 1940 s 4, effective 24 December 1940]

(2) In this section the expression “borrower” includes a surety.
(3) The note or memorandum aforesaid shall contain all the terms of the contract and in particular shall show separately and distinctly—
  • (a)the date of the loan;
  • (b)the principal; and
  • (c)the rate of interest per cent per annum payable in respect of such loan or, where the interest is not expressed in terms of a rate per cent per annum, the amount of such interest.

All dates and numbers shall be written in the English language notwithstanding that they are also written in any other way.

(4) Where a promissory note in the English language given by a borrower to a moneylender in respect of a loan contains in the body of the note or by writing thereon all the terms of the contract and is countersigned by the lender or his or her agent, such promissory note shall in itself be a sufficient note or memorandum of the contract for the purpose of this section.