I like a RATA, not a ROCAP

Learnt over the weekend that ASIC are substituting in a new insolvency form called the Report on Company Activities and Property (ROCAP). I like what they have tried to do, but all-in-all I am not a fan.

Here is a link to the new form. Here is the old form.

With thanks to Michael, I am told that the current form, called a Report as to Affairs (RATA) has basically been around since 1890.

The RATA requires directors of liquidated, or receiver/administrator-appointed companies to lodge a 10 page form with the external administrator, who then lodges same with ASIC.

The purpose of the RATA and the ROCAP is to shine light on the affairs of the company.

The good stuff?

1. the form is written in simple to read English, with plenty of well thought through explanations

2. design work is good – although my friends at Dot. Legal Design would do much better

3. requires directors to provide, in a transparent way, much more information than they currently do

4. we should be able to now do a way with the director’s questionnaire

The bad stuff?

1. it’s 50 pages!! 5x the size of the current form, and double-to-triple the size of similar forms in comparative jurisdictions

2. why change the name?!? ASIC is alienating itself from the profession again, because every liquidator firm will need to spend at least half a day updating all of their precedents to refer to ROCAP, not RATA

3. there has been no feedback request for industry. Instead, we are told that this change will occur in November 2018

Everyone will have their own points of view, but at the very least, if they could refrain from the name change, I could live with the document.

What do you think? …

#SVVoidables