CS 61 Proposed remake of ASIC Corporations (Wholly-owned Companies) Instrument 2016/785

Released 3 August 2026. Comments close 28 August 2026.

We propose to remake the relief in ASIC Corporations (Wholly-owned Companies) Instrument 2016/785 for five years. This proposal is intended to maintain the existing relief while the Australian Government progresses law reform for simplified reporting relief for group entities, which was announced as part of the Whole-of-Government Regulatory Reform Agenda in the 2026–27 Budget.

ASIC Instrument 2016/785 provides financial reporting relief to wholly-owned companies if the holding entity lodges a consolidated financial report. This is subject to a number of other conditions, including executing a deed of cross guarantee in the form of Pro-forma 24 Deed of cross guarantee (PF 24).

Under the proposal:

relief provided in ASIC Instrument 2016/785 will continue to apply for financial years ending before 1 January 2027, and
the draft ASIC Corporations (Wholly-owned Companies) Instrument 2026/XX (draft instrument) will apply to financial years ending on or after this date.

See Related information for copies of the draft instrument.

A consultation paper was not issued for this consultation.

Key proposed changes

We intend to preserve the core policy settings in ASIC Instrument 2026/785 and PF 24. The proposed conditions of relief in the draft instrument remain consistent to ensure that companies do not need to take any action solely because the instrument is being remade. For example, the draft instrument contains savings provisions that preserve the effect of deeds of cross guarantee entered into under previous instruments.

The proposed changes include:

amending the definition of ‘closely-held subsidiary’ to reflect they need to be party to the deed of cross guarantee
removing the exclusion for wholly-owned companies that issue debentures to sophisticated or professional investors (see No-action position on financial reporting obligations of special purpose financing subsidiaries and their guarantors)
removing certain consolidation requirements for the holding entity’s financial report, which are now covered by Australian Accounting Standard AASB 10 Consolidated Financial Statements
a provision for review by the Administrative Review Tribunal if ASIC excludes a company from relying on the relief
removing the requirement to lodge original documents, and
removing reference to the ASIC Electronic Lodgement Protocol, given this does not apply. Electronic lodgements will continue to be facilitated under a separate instrument that permits lodgement by email.

We propose making minor, technical changes to PF 24 (draft PF 24) to:

reflect amendments in the draft instrument, and
permit the addition or substitution of an alternative trustee.

See Related information for copies of draft PF 24. We also intend to make minor consequential amendments to other related ASIC pro forma documents, forms and ASIC guidance that we will publish around the time the final instrument is made.

Impact analysis

Before settling on a final instrument, we will comply with the Australian Government Impact Analysis Framework. To assist us to understand the impact of our proposal to remake the relief in ASIC Instrument 2016/785, we invite feedback on the information below:

What compliance costs/savings do you expect to incur if we remake the relief as proposed compared to requiring full compliance with the Corporations Act 2001? Please provide specific details and dollar estimates for any upfront and ongoing costs/savings.
If we did not remake the relief and allowed it to expire, what impact would this have on your current business operations? Please provide specific details.

Providing feedback

We invite feedback on our proposal. You should send your submission to rri.consultation@asic.gov.au by 5 pm AEST on 28 August 2026.

You may choose to remain anonymous or use an alias when providing feedback. However, if you do remain anonymous, we will not be able to contact you to discuss your feedback should we need to.

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Background

Under the Legislation Act 2003, all legislative instruments automatically sunset after 10 years, unless ASIC takes action to preserve them.

ASIC Instrument 2016/785 exempts certain wholly-owned companies from financial reporting obligations, subject to a number of conditions, including:

the wholly-owned companies are party to a deed of cross guarantee on exactly the same terms as PF 24 with the holding entity and certain other wholly-owned entities of the holding entity (‘the closed group’), and
the holding entity has lodged consolidated financial statements covering the closed group and any other bodies that are parties to the deed of cross guarantee, which are controlled by the holding entity.

ASIC Instrument 2016/785 is due to sunset on 1 October 2026 and is proposed to be repealed shortly before that date. Despite this repeal, the relief provided by ASIC Instrument 2016/785 is proposed to continue to apply for financial years ending before 1 January 2027: see section 16 of the draft instrument.