GO4192: Assetless Administration Fund - Director Banning Grant

The Director Banning Grant Guidelines is one of three revised Guidelines developed by ASIC to replace ASIC Regulatory Guide 109.

The Director Banning grant opportunity provides funding to a liquidator of an assetless company to investigate and prepare a report under section 533(2) of the Corporations Act 2001, primarily to assist ASIC to determine whether to disqualify a person from managing corporations under section 206F or 206GAA of the Corporations Act 2001.

The Commonwealth Grant Rules and Principles 2024 (CGRPs) requires grant opportunity guidelines to be developed for all new grant opportunities, and revised guidelines to be developed where significant changes have been made to a grant opportunity.

The Guidelines are developed in accordance with the CGRPs within the Commonwealth Grants Policy Framework.

Please read the Guidelines carefully, as it contains numerous changes including: - Sections and headings in accordance with the Whole-of-Government template - Simplified definition for 'assetless' administration for determining a liquidator's eligibility to apply for grant in section 4.5.

To be eligible the applicant must be a liquidator appointed as a liquidator to a company in liquidation in a court-ordered winding up, a creditors voluntary winding up, or an ASIC-ordered winding up under s489EA of the Corporations Act (excluding a liquidator of a solvent company voluntarily wound up by its members or a special purpose liquidator, except by exception).

The company in liquidation must be an assetless administration (net realisable assets less than the amount specified in Item 2 of the Schedule: $10,000).

The liquidator must have lodged an initial statutory report under s533(1) via the ASIC Regulatory Portal.

The liquidator must reasonably believe that elements of s206F or s206GAA are met (including that the person has been an officer of one or more other companies that have gone into liquidation within the last seven years and a liquidator is still appointed to at least one of those companies) and that sufficient evidence or material is, or is likely to become, available to support concerns about the director's conduct.

The liquidator must provide current/last known addresses for the director to enable ASIC to provide requisite notices.