If you have never taken a company charge to secure a loan to a borrower, you are not affected by the Octaviar decision (Re Octaviar Ltd; Re Octaviar Administration Pty Ltd [2009] QSC 37).

Octaviar was about whether certain facilities were secured by a company charge.

The charge was not an "all accounts" charge and therefore the decision is regarded as not affecting all accounts company charges registered with ASIC within the required 45 day lodgment period.

The case related to a company charge to which loans could be added as secured debts by naming them in a later document. Those later documents were not registered with ASIC and the court decided that they were variations which needed to be registered to be secured by the charge.

If you have taken company charges and are not sure of their legal status or want to review your procedures for taking company charges and making further advances or collateral loans, get legal advice.