ASIC Form 509G Sets Notice Requirements for Terminating a Deed of Company Arrangement

Key Takeaways

• ASIC has published Form 509G, the notice an administrator must use when creditors vote to terminate a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) under s450D of the Corporations Act 2001.
• The form is an administrative template rather than a new rule, but it documents how a DOCA termination is recorded on the public register and how creditors are notified.
• Compliance teams with exposure to Australian counterparties in external administration should understand the process and its implications.

Deep Dive

ASIC has published Form 509G, the notice an administrator must use when creditors vote to terminate a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) under s450D of the Corporations Act 2001. The form is an administrative template rather than a new rule, but it documents how a DOCA termination is recorded on the public register and how creditors are notified. Compliance teams with exposure to Australian counterparties in external administration should understand the process and its implications.

The key requirements are as follows. The DOCA administrator must sign the form. It must record the company name, ACN/ABN, the meeting date, and whether creditors also resolved under s445E to wind up the company. When lodged with ASIC, the form becomes an image on the public register, and the creditor-addressing section is left blank. When the form is sent directly to creditors, the sender indicates whether it is addressed to all creditors or to named creditors. Lodgement is free and can be made by post (PO Box 4000, Gippsland Mail Centre VIC 3841) or online through the ASIC website. The guide also covers supplementary pages and labeled attachments, and it carries a privacy notice because the form may contain personal information.

No fixed deadlines appear in the document. Timing is governed by the underlying Corporations Act and Insolvency Practice Schedule provisions, which the form does not restate. Teams should confirm the applicable lodgement and notification timeframes against the legislation or with Australian legal counsel before relying on this form.

Recommended actions: (1) add Form 509G lodgements to insolvency-event monitoring for Australian borrowers, counterparties, and vendors; (2) when a DOCA terminates, reassess credit exposure, collateral, set-off rights, and proof-of-debt positions, especially if a s445E winding-up resolution was passed; (3) update credit, collections, and legal escalation procedures to reflect the possible move from DOCA to liquidation; (4) if your organization acts as an administrator or creditor, make sure staff know the signature, lodgement, and privacy-handling requirements; (5) confirm that the current form version is used, since ASIC may revise forms.

Risk implications are modest and mostly indirect. Termination of a DOCA often signals worsening financial condition and may be followed by liquidation, which raises credit loss and recovery risk. Procedural errors in lodgement or notification could create legal or reputational risk for administrators and their firms. Because the form feeds the public register, personal information handling is also a minor privacy consideration.

Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission