ASIC has released a new guide, Regulatory Guide 193: Notification of directors’ interests in securities – listed companies 
(RG 193), which
provides information on how directors of listed companies should comply
with the disclosure requirements created by section 205G of the
Corporations Act.

The guide covers the definition of ‘relevant
interests’ and ‘securities’, circumstances where notification is not
required and the identification of breaches.

It also covers the factors ASIC will take into
consideration when determining whether to take action against a
director by referring the matter to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. These factors include the
amount of a company’s shares in question, whether a market announcement
was made at or shortly after the time a notice should have been lodged
and whether there have been any other instances of late lodgement of a
notice by a director.

UPDATE: ASX Review of Trading by Directors

CAMAC has published a discussion paper on Members’ schemes of arrangement  (pdf)

Schemes of arrangement are a commonly
used mechanism under the Corporations Act for achieving structural
change within a company or a corporate group. They can be tailored to
novel or complex corporate structures or be used for major group
reconstructions. Members’ schemes are increasingly used instead of
takeover bids to achieve a change of corporate control.

The paper includes a review of
factors that may influence the choice between schemes, takeover bids
and reductions of share capital to effect a change of corporate control.

The paper invites submissions on a range of issues, including:

• whether the disclosure
  requirements for schemes should be amended to assist greater
  understanding by shareholders, for instance, by introducing a ‘clear,
  concise and effective’ disclosure requirement for the explanatory
  statement
• whether the procedure for determining classes of shareholders should be changed to permit earlier and binding determinations
• whether the headcount test should be amended or repealed
• whether ASIC should have modification powers for schemes comparable to those for takeover bids
• whether s 411(17),
  which relates to schemes that have been proposed for the purpose of
  avoiding the takeover provisions, should be repealed or amended.

The paper also considers whether the provisions for members’ schemes:

• should accommodate holders of options over unissued shares or convertible notes
• should be extended to listed or unlisted managed investment schemes
• should be simplified for mergers within wholly-owned corporate groups
• should be adapted for use in schemes opposed by the target company.

The Committee is calling for submissions on the discussion paper by 26 September 2008

ASIC has released a report (pdf) covering information gathered from corporate
insolvencies between 2004 and 2007.

In profiling insolvent companies the report notes that 82% of insolvencies were companies with less than 20 employees.

The top 3 causes of company failure for 2006-2007 were:

• poor strategic management of business (2,944 or 43% of reports)
• Inadequate cashflow or high cash use (2,719 or 40% of reports)
• Trading losses (2,352 or 34% of reports)