ASIC Form 722 Requires Notice of Trustee Appointment for Debenture Holders Within 14 Days

Key Takeaways

• ASIC has published Form 722, the notice a borrower must lodge under section 283BC of the Corporations Act 2001 when it appoints a trustee for debenture holders.
• The form must be lodged within 14 days of the appointment, and late fees apply if it is not.
• Compliance teams at debenture issuers should confirm that their lodgement processes, signatory authority, and fee handling are in place.

Deep Dive

ASIC has published Form 722, the notice a borrower must lodge under section 283BC of the Corporations Act 2001 when it appoints a trustee for debenture holders. The form must be lodged within 14 days of the appointment, and late fees apply if it is not. Compliance teams at debenture issuers should confirm that their lodgement processes, signatory authority, and fee handling are in place.

Form 722 is a procedural filing, not a new rule. It is the mechanism by which a borrower notifies ASIC that it has appointed a trustee for holders of debentures under section 283BC of the Corporations Act 2001. The version provided is dated 2 April 2024, while the update carries a 2026-09-16 date. Teams should check with ASIC whether anything beyond a republication or administrative refresh has changed, because the content shown contains no substantive amendments.

The form requires the borrower's name, ACN/ARBN/ABN, and address. If the borrower is a company, the address must be its principal place of business. It also requires the trustee's name, identifier, and address, the name of the trust, the trustee's appointment date, and the date of the trust deed. A director or secretary of the company must sign it and state their capacity. Lodgement is by post to GPO Box 9827, Melbourne VIC 3001.

The key deadline is lodgement within 14 days of the trustee's appointment. A lodgement fee applies, and late fees are charged if the notice is filed outside that period. Under s1274(8) of the Corporations Act, a form is not treated as lodged until ASIC receives it and accepts it as compliant. Rejected or incomplete forms therefore risk missing the deadline. ASIC will not issue a receipt unless one is requested, so teams should request one to keep evidence of timely lodgement. Any annexures must meet formatting rules: A4 paper, 10mm margins, the company name and ACN or ARBN, consecutive page numbering, an identifying mark, the prescribed endorsement wording, and signature and date by the same person who signed the form.

Recommended actions:
- Add the 14-day lodgement requirement to the debenture issuance and trustee appointment checklist, with a named owner.
- Confirm that only authorized directors or secretaries sign the form.
- Verify the trust deed date and appointment date against the source documents before lodgement.
- Budget for lodgement fees and track late-fee exposure.
- Retain proof of lodgement and ASIC acceptance in the compliance record.
- Review the personal information in the form against the organization's privacy obligations and ASIC's privacy policy.

The overall risk is low but not trivial. A missed or defective filing creates late fees and a regulatory breach. It can also expose weaknesses in debenture governance, since the trustee is central to protecting investors. Issuers with multiple debenture programs or frequent trustee changes face the greatest operational exposure.

Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission