Proposed 'Good Practice Guidance' for electronic prospectuses

ASIC has recently commenced the consultation process to update its policy and requirements for electronic offers of securities.

This is a reflection of the fact that it is becoming increasingly common for offerors to make offers of securities over the internet and other electronic means. There are many advantages in doing so. From an investor's perspective the documents can be interactive and convenient to access. From an issuer's perspective it may involve reduced costs, increased speed and, importantly, wider availability of information.

As part of its reform, ASIC proposes to issue "good practice guidance" which will apply to any electronic method of distributing disclosure documents and application forms. The key principles of the proposed guidance are: