ASIC Form 562 Lets Court-Appointed Liquidators Notify Extensions to Report Deadlines

Key Takeaways

• ASIC has published Form 562, the notice a court-appointed liquidator uses to tell ASIC that the time to submit a report on a company's activities and property has been extended under s475(7)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001.
• The form is a routine administrative document, not a new obligation.
• Compliance teams that deal with insolvent counterparties or act as liquidators or advisers should understand its role in the reporting process.

Deep Dive

ASIC has published Form 562, the notice a court-appointed liquidator uses to tell ASIC that the time to submit a report on a company's activities and property has been extended under s475(7)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001. The form is a routine administrative document, not a new obligation. Compliance teams that deal with insolvent counterparties or act as liquidators or advisers should understand its role in the reporting process.

Form 562 supports the liquidation reporting framework in s475 of the Corporations Act 2001. Under s475(1) and (2), specified persons must submit a report on the company's activities and property to the liquidator. Where the liquidator grants an extension of time in writing, s475(7)(b) requires the liquidator to notify ASIC. The form records the company details, the extension date (the date to which time has been extended), and the liquidator's name, registered liquidator number, signature, and date signed. The document is a template and not a substantive policy change. The form version is dated 31 October 2018, so the 2026-09-15 publication date appears to reflect a web republication or catalog update rather than new content.

Key requirements: a copy of the written notice granting the extension must be attached, and the form must be signed by the court-appointed liquidator. Per the guide, lodgement should occur as soon as practicable after the written notice is given. ASIC states that use of the form is optional, though the underlying statutory notification duty remains. If space is insufficient, annexures may be used, and they must meet formatting rules: A4 white or light pastel paper, a 10mm margin, company name and ACN, consecutive page numbering, block letters in dark ink, an identifying mark, a prescribed endorsement, and signature and date by the same signatory as the form. Lodgement is by post to ASIC, PO Box 4000, Gippsland Mail Centre VIC 3841.

Recommended actions: liquidation practitioners and their compliance teams should confirm that internal checklists tie extension grants to prompt ASIC notification, and should keep a record of the written notice and lodgement evidence. Teams should also confirm they are using the current form version and verify the lodgement channel with ASIC, as the postal method in a 2018 template may have been superseded. Financial institutions with exposure to companies in liquidation should be aware that extended reporting periods can delay information about the company's assets and affairs. This may affect credit loss estimates, recovery planning, and claims management.

Risk implications are low. The main exposure is procedural: late or missing notification, an unsigned form, a missing attachment, or a non-conforming annexure could lead to regulatory queries or questions about a liquidator's compliance. Personal information in the form is subject to ASIC's privacy policy, so practitioners should handle attachments with appropriate data protection controls.

Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission