Following public consultation, ASIC has remade five legislative instruments that affect financial reporting by disclosing entities and entities generally. The relief is set out in the following new legislative instruments:

• ASIC Corporations (Uncontactable Members) Instrument 2016/187 (replaces Class Order 98/101)
• ASIC Corporations (Directors’ Report Relief) Instrument 2016/188 (replaces Class Order 98/2395)
• ASIC Corporations (Synchronisation of Financial Years) Instrument 2016/189 (replaces Class Order 98/96)
• ASIC Corporations (Disclosing Entities) Instrument 2016/190 (replaces Class Orders 98/2016 and 08/15)
• ASIC Corporations (Rounding in Financial/Directors’ Reports) Instrument 2016/191 (replaces Class Order 98/100).

ASIC remade these instruments without significant changes before they were due to sunset over the next few years under the Legislation Act 2003.

The instruments:

• relieve entities of the obligation to send a hard copy of the directors’ report, financial report and auditor’s report to members who are uncontactable
• allow entities to transfer some information from the directors’ report to the financial report or to a separate document accompanying both the directors’ report and financial report
• allow entities to synchronise their financial year with that of a  foreign parent where that foreign parent has an obligation under a foreign law to synchronise the financial years of controlled entities with its own
• relieve entities from reporting as disclosing entities if they cease to be disclosing entities before the reporting deadline for a financial year
• relieve disclosing entities which have a first financial year of 8 months or less from preparing a half-year financial report and directors’ report during that financial year; and
• allow entities to round amounts disclosed in the directors’ report and financial report.

Consultation process

ASIC received four non-confidential submissions in response to its consultation on remaking this relief, under Consultation Paper 240 Remaking ASIC class orders on rounding, directors’ reports, disclosing entities and other matters (CP 240). No objections were raised to our proposals to remake the instruments. We remade the instruments substantially in the form consulted on although some minor amendments have been made to reflect comments received in the submissions.

Our responses to key issues raised in the submissions are detailed in Report 488 Responses to submissions on CP 240 Remaking ASIC class order on rounding and other matters.

The proposal to remake ASIC Class Order [CO 98/100] Rounding in financial reports and directors’ reports was included in CP 240. The class order was remade as ASIC Corporations (Rounding in Financial/Directors’ Reports) Instrument 2016/191 on 24 March 2016 due to its sunset date of 1 April 2016.

ASIC Corporations (Amendment and Repeal) Instrument 2016/182 and ASIC Corporations (Amendment and Repeal) Instrument 2016/247 repeal the previous instruments.