BUS201
Contract & Agency Law

Tutor-Marked Assignment

July 2023 Presentation

BUS201 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 2 of 5

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)

This assignment is worth 18% of the final mark for BUS201 Contract & Agency Law.

The cut-off date for this assignment is 10 September 2023, 2355 hrs.

The total length of the report should be no more than 5 pages (excluding cover page, table of
contents and list of references) with font as Times New Roman, size 12, 1.5 line spacing and a
2.54 cm margin all round. All pages should be numbered.

In this assignment, you are expected to:
• Analyse and evaluate decisions of reported cases critically to demonstrate an

understanding of the legal principles learnt.
• Apply Singapore case law and legislation to new situations to solve the problem or

determine the most appropriate outcome.
• Show well-developed written proficiency.

Note to Students:

Compose your report using Microsoft Office Word, and save either as .doc or .docx
(preferred).

You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Code, Title of the
TMA, SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date.

Use of Generative AI Tools (Allowed)

The use of generative AI tools is allowed for this assignment.

• You are expected to provide proper attribution if you use generative AI tools while

completing the assignment, including appropriate and discipline-specific citation, a
table detailing the name of the AI tool used, the approach to using the tool (e.g. what
prompts were used), the full output provided by the tool, and which part of the output
was adapted for the assignment;

• To take note of section 3, paragraph 3.2 and section 5.2, paragraph 2A.1 (Viva Voce)

of the Student Handbook;

• The University has the right to exercise the viva voce option to determine the authorship

of a student’s submission should there be reasonable grounds to suspect that the
submission may not be fully the student’s own work.

• For more details on academic integrity and guidance on responsible use of generative

AI tools in assignments, please refer to the TLC website for more details;

• The University will continue to review the use of generative AI tools based on feedback

and in light of developments in AI and related technologies.

BUS201 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 3 of 5

Important Note: Grading of TMA/GBA/ECA Submissions

Marks awarded to your assignment are based on the following guidelines:

1. 80% of the marks are allocated to the content of your answers:
 The marks awarded to what your answers cover depend on the extent to which they

cover the key points that correctly and comprehensively address each question.
 The key points should be supported by evidence drawn from course materials and,

wherever relevant, from other credible sources.

2. 20% of the marks are allocated to the presentation of your answers:
Wherever applicable, the marks awarded to how your answers are presented depend on
the extent to which your answers:
 form a sound reasoning by developing those key points in a clear, logical and succinct

manner;
 provide proper and adequate in-text citations and referencing to content drawn from

course materials and other credible sources;
 strictly follow APA formatting and style guidelines1, in particular for:

• in-text citations and end-of-report references;
• the identification of figures and tables;

 use, wherever relevant, the specialised vocabulary and terminology commonly used in
discussions about the topic(s) covered by each question;

 provide a reference or bibliography at the end of the main report;
 include the less relevant details in an Appendix;
 use sentence constructions that are grammatically and syntactically correct;
 are free from spelling mistakes;
 present the workings, numerical formulations and results in a logical manner that

follows the APA formatting and style guidelines;
 design and present graphs, diagrams and plots that follow the APA formatting and style

guidelines;
 are highly original;
 have proper formatting, which may:

• include a properly formatted cover page;
• respect the answer length/word count set out in the assignment guidelines, if

any is prescribed;
• present answers in paragraphs with proper spacing and page margins;
• include page numbers and appendices, if necessary.

1 You can find a short tutorial on the APA formatting and style guidelines here: https://apastyle.apa.org/index.
Additional details (pertaining to tables and figures) can be found here: https://is.gd/O4vDdT .

BUS201 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 4 of 5

You must answer ALL the questions. (Total 100 marks)

Note to Students: Please remember to support your analysis with reasons, case law and/or
statutory provisions (where applicable).

Question 1

SingBank, a government-linked company, intends to establish a digital trading platform (called
a “digital exchange”) for the trading of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, and it is seeking
a financial technology (“fintech”) service provider as a technology partner to help with the
building and operation of the digital exchange. The operation of the digital exchange will
require approval from the relevant regulatory authorities, and SingBank has already obtained
such approvals.

In order to find the most appropriate fintech service provider for the project, SingBank
launched a Request For Proposal (“RFP”) setting out its objectives and requirements for the
project, and sent out the RFP to various fintech service providers via email.

Antimony Tech (“AT”), a private enterprise, was one of the fintech service providers that
received the RFP from SingBank. AT was excited about the prospect of partnering with
SingBank to build and operate the new digital exchange. In response, AT prepared a
comprehensive proposal, and submitted it to SingBank. AT’s proposal was priced at $10
million (i.e., they would do the necessary work for a total price of $10 million).

A week after receiving AT’s proposal, SingBank arranged an interview with AT to discuss its
proposal and to seek AT’s clarifications on a few aspects in the proposal. The interview was
conducted via videoconferencing. During the interview, SingBank informed AT that the
pricing set out in its proposal was quite high compared to the other proposals received by
SingBank. The following verbal exchange took place between the two parties:

SingBank: “Would you be able to revise your pricing downward?”

AT: “What is the pricing range you are seeing in the other proposals?”

SingBank: “We received a proposal priced at $8 million.”

AT: “Let us review our proposal following this chat, and work to close the
gap.”

SingBank: “If you can match that, with the same scope of work, you’ll be in a
good position.”

The following day, AT sent to SingBank (via email) a revised proposal for the same work scope
but which is now priced at $8 million.

SingBank received the proposal, and was satisfied with it. Thereafter, SingBank issued to AT
(via email) a document titled “Letter of Intent”, which set out the agreed terms drawn from the
proposal.

BUS201 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 5 of 5

After receiving the Letter of Intent, AT arranged to meet with SingBank’s representatives for
a celebratory event. At this event, senior members of management from both sides shook hands,
and there were also mutual exchanges of congratulations on the closing of the deal. A week
later, AT began allocating resources to ready itself for the commencement of the project. AT
also turned down another prospective client it had been talking to, so as to conserve its
manpower resources for the project with SingBank.

However, two weeks later, SingBank announced via a press release that it has selected another
fintech service provider, called “Zenith”, as its technology partner for the digital exchange
project. Apparently, SingBank had changed its mind about partnering with AT, as Zenith had
offered a much better deal to SingBank.

AT is now considering whether to take legal action against SingBank.

(a) Explain whether there is a valid contract between SingBank and AT regarding the

project for the building and operation of the digital exchange. In your answer, you
should identify and discuss the four (4) elements of a contract. (This means that you
should also state and define the four elements of a contract, discuss the relevant legal
rules associated with them, and apply the legal rules with reference to the facts and
circumstances described in the scenario.)

(65 marks)

(b) Discuss the three (3) functions of business law (namely, as facilitator, regulator and

adjudicator), and use specific examples from the abovementioned scenario to explain
how business law is relevant for a business entity such as AT in relation to each of these
functions.

(35 marks)

—- END OF ASSIGNMENT —-