Company compliance tools

A phone call

By educating our clients on a one-on-one basis we hope to increase voluntary compliance levels.

We may contact clients who will soon receive a compliance notice to advise them of what steps they will need to take. For other programs we will contact companies or entities that have already received a compliance notice to ensure they are aware of their obligations and to prevent any further compliance action.

A letter explaining what needs to be done

Our educative letters aim to assist companies to comply with their obligations. By being proactive we aim to encourage higher levels of voluntary compliance.

We may contact clients to:

advise of their requirements to lodge certain documents
to confirm address details.

A Compliance notice (return of particulars)

A Compliance notice (return of particulars) is issued under s348A of the Corporations Act and contains:

a letter describing why we are sending the notice to the company and what the company must do to meet their legal requirements
a company statement setting out the details recorded for the company on our corporate register, and
a Form 483 Company compliance statement (response to return of particulars).

What you need to do

If we send a Compliance notice (return of particulars), the company will need to:

review the information in the company statement and make a declaration about its accuracy on the Form 483 Company compliance statement (response to return of particulars). If the information is not correct, it must be updated using the appropriate ASIC form (usually Form 484 Change to company details or Form 492 Request for correction, if the change had previously been notified to us, but not included on the company statement). If fees are outstanding they must be paid in full.
provide a solvency resolution statement and pass solvency resolution if required, and
lodge the completed Form 483 together with the Form 484 or Form 492 within 28 days of the issue date shown on the Compliance notice (return of particulars).

What happens if a company does not respond to a compliance notice?

We may take further compliance action against the company and/or its officeholders if the company fails to respond to a compliance notice. This may include court action and/or deregistration of the company.

Further information about compliance notices

A warning letter

We may issue a warning letter to a company in breach of the Corporations Act:

requesting the company to correct the default (such as lodge outstanding financial reports) and
specifying a time frame in which this must be done - usually 28 days.

What happens if a company does not meet the requirements of a warning letter?

We may issue a:

Compliance notice (return of particulars), OR
a notice under s1274(11) of the Corporations Act.

A notice under s1274(11)

We may issue a s1274(11) notice to a company in breach of its requirements under the Corporations Act:

requesting the company to lodge a particular document that a company has failed to lodge
requiring the company to comply within 14 days after the date of service of the notice.

What happens if a company does not meet the requirements of a s1274(11) notice?

We may take further action by commencing court proceedings. If so we will:

apply to the Court asking it to make an order to direct the company to lodge the outstanding document and pay costs, and
serve a copy of the application on the company.

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