As many as one in three Australian proprietary companies will no longer be required to have an audit or lodge their financial reports with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), as a result of the Government’s Simpler Regulatory System Bill passed in Parliament this week.  
 
Two key components of the company reporting obligations are contained in the Act - increases to the monetary thresholds to define a large proprietary company and distribution of annual reports via the internet, which will apply to the current 2006-07 financial reporting period ending 30 June 2007.  
 
Under the new size test, a company will be defined as a large proprietary company if it exceeds two of the following tests:

• Revenue of $25 million
• Assets of $12.5 million
• 50 employees.

• Financial planners will only need to provide a Record of Advice (RoA), rather than a full Statement of Advice (SoA) for consumers investing less than $15,000
• Financial planners will also not be required to produce SoAs where the advice does not involve the recommendation of a product, and where no remuneration is received
• Companies will be allowed to make a single up-front payment of annual review fees that would be incurred over a 10-year period, reducing the transactional costs associated with ongoing lodgement
• A reduction in complexities by incorporating earlier remedial measures made under the Corporations Regulations and ASIC Class Orders into the Corporations Act. Compliance burden for auditors will be reduced, by making improvements to the regime without weakening the existing robust auditor independence framework.

• Treasury: Chris Pearce website
• Attorney General: Website