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ARTICLE · 24 MARCH 2021

Caution: electronic execution under the Corporations Act suspended

Corrs Chambers Westgarth
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Recommendation to revert to signing in wet ink when seeking to execute under s127 Corporations Law.

AustraliaCorporate/Commercial Law
Clare Corke
Clare Corke
Alex Nakayama
Alex Nakayama
Ken Li
Ken Li
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The temporary measures enacted by the Australian Government to permit electronic execution of documents under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) expired as of 21 March 2021, with the proposed bill to extend its operation delayed. Without a clear solution in sight, companies must reconsider how to validly execute documents.

Expiry of the temporary measures

The temporary measures enabling companies to execute documents electronically were contained in the Corporations (Coronavirus Economic Response Determination (No.3) 2020 (Cth) (Determination) (the effect of which is discussed here). While the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021 (Bill) was introduced on 17 February 2021 to extend and expand on the measures of the Determination until 16 September 2021; unfortunately, due to disagreement between the major parties over amendments to the Bill, it was not passed last week.

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