Treasury has published the report of the Statutory Review of the Meetings and Documents Amendments.

The Amendments considered were made to the Corporations Act in 2021 and 2022 to provide for virtual company meetings and the electronic distribution, signing and execution of company documents.

Background.

The findings and recommendations included:

• Companies’ communications with their members about meetings should make it clear what the format is and what technology is being provided to allow for participation. The Review Panel was concerned about the use of physical meetings with a webcast that does not allow for virtual participation and the potential misconceptions by members that these are hybrid meetings.
• Entities, such as proprietary companies, unlisted public companies, unlisted registered schemes, not-for-profits and companies limited by guarantee, should be permitted to determine the appropriate meeting format without the requirement of constitutional permission before a wholly virtual meeting may be held.
• The laws concerning electronic distribution of meeting-related materials be maintained.
• That the Government considers alignment of meeting-related document distribution requirements for not-for-profit entities with other not-for-profit document distribution requirements under the Corporations Act.
• That the laws concerning electronic signing and execution of documents be maintained.

The Government will consider the Panel’s report and publish its response to the recommendations in due course.

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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
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About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.