The Corporations (Coronavirus Economic Response) Determination (No. 1) 2020 took effect on 6 May 2020 and will apply for 6 months.
Meetings
The determination allows:
While the requirements of the Corporations Act may be satisfied in these ways, we note that companies will still need to have regard to any applicable requirements of their own Constitutions.
The modifications are subject to conditions, which include giving those entitled to attend a meeting information about how they will be able to participate and treating proxies in the same way as they would be treated if they attended a physical meeting.
Execution of Documents
The determination also modifies the operation of section 127(1) of the Corporations Act, which deals with the execution of a document by a company without using a common seal. It allows the required signatory or signatories:
And it modifies the operation of section 129(5) such that assumptions of due execution may be made when such methods are used.
The Explanatory Statement relating to the Determination gives some examples of the means by which company officers might ‘sign’ a document electronically: