Last week’s post touched on some of the issues in relation to disclosure of beneficial ownership of shares on ASIC records.
In situations where the beneficial ownership is incorrectly recorded there are three broad alternatives available, namely:
1) Leaving the ASIC records unchanged. From a compliance perspective while this approach is possible, it is not recommended.
2) Simply lodging an annual return or ASIC form 484 that updates the ASIC records from that date. In many cases this approach will be pragmatically appropriate and is certainly the easiest and most cost effective approach. There is a risk however that there may be adverse revenue consequences or challenges from a third party (for example a trustee in bankruptcy).
3) The final approach involves effectively rectifying ASIC records from the date the error first occurred and then arranging for the annual returns for every subsequent year to also be amended. Obviously, this approach can be a significant exercise and is generally only adopted where there are concerns from a tax, stamp duty or asset protection perspective.
** For the trainspotters, the title today is riffed from INXS’ first ever single, from 1980.