In these uncertain times, the Morrison government is
keen to give Australian companies more wriggle room when it comes
to complying with their statutory obligations. Fresh off the back
of changes to relax insolvent trading laws (which we wrote about
here), the government has announced temporary amendments to the
continuous disclosure regime applicable to Australian listed
companies. Over the next 6 months, directors will only be liable
for breaches of their continuous disclosure obligations if there is
"knowledge, recklessness or negligence" around inaccurate
disclosures made to the market.
The rationale behind the changes is simple – directors
should be focused on navigating the immediate COVID-related threats
facing their businesses rather than attempting to provide profit
guidance and forward-looking information in a time when their
ability to make those forecasts is severely undermined by current
uncertainties.
