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Corporations Legislation Amendment (Simpler Regulatory System) Bill 2007 affecting s 314(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)

2007 - Legislation Ammendment

Hard copies of Annual and Concise reports will only be sent to shareholders requesting one. This changes the distribution of Annual Reports from the current opt-out scenario — members have to elect not to receive a copy of the Annual Report — to an opt-in scenario — members have to elect to receive a copy of the Annual Report. This will be a standing election, meaning whichever option a shareholder chooses will remain for each later financial year until he/she changes his/her election.

A company can choose to continue to send only hard copies.

In order to take up the option of website distribution, companies must:

  • send a hard copy to those who elect to receive a hard copy
  • send an electronic copy (i.e. email or fax) of the reports where members elect to receive it in that manner
  • make electronic copies ‘readily accessible’ on the company’s website, i.e. it must not be a password-protected or restricted section of the website
  • notify those members who did not receive a hard copy that the Annual Report is available on the website and provide the URL. This notification may be by hard copy, email or fax, and can be included with other correspondence sent to members, such as the Notice of the Annual General Meeting.

The amendments apply to Annual Reports for the financial year that ends after 28 June 2007. Effectively, this means that if a company's financial year end in on 30 June 2007, the amendments will apply.

For further information please contact us.

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