Corporations Act 2001 - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from CA 2001) Act of the Parliament of Australia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Corporations Act 2001" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Corporations Act 2001
Parliament of Australia
Long title An Act to make provision in relation to corporations, securities, the futures industry and financial products and services, and for other purposes
Citation	No. 50 of 2001 or No. 50 of 2001 as amended
Territorial extent	States and territories of Australia
Royal assent	28 June 2001
Status: In force

Politics of Australia
This article is part of a series on the

Constitution
Monarchy Monarch Charles III Governor-General Sam Mostyn
Executive Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (ALP) Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles (ALP) Federal Executive Council Ministry Albanese ministry Cabinet
Legislature Australian Parliament Senate President Sue Lines (ALP) Leader Penny Wong (ALP) House of Representatives Speaker Milton Dick (ALP) Leader Tony Burke (ALP) Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (LP) Shadow Ministry
Judiciary High Court of Australia Chief Justice Stephen Gageler Keane Gordon Edelman Steward Gleeson Beech-Jones Federal Court of Australia Chief Justice Debra Mortimer List of Judges Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Chief Justice Will Alstergren List of Judges State and territory courts Australian legal system
Elections Recent elections 2022 2019 2016 2013 2010 2007 Federal electoral system Electoral divisions By-elections Referendums and plebiscites Voter registration Leadership spill Political parties Political funding
States and territories Governors and administrators Premiers and chief ministers Parliaments and assemblies State courts State electoral systems
Local government NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas NT Political parties
Foreign relations Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Foreign Minister Penny Wong Diplomatic missions of / in Australia Nationality law Passports Visa requirements Visa policy Australia and the United Nations G20 APEC New Zealand United Kingdom United States Canada European Union China India
Ideologies Anarchism Christian Conservatism Environmentalism Far-right Hansonism Liberalism Monarchism Multiculturalism Nationalism Republicanism Secularism Socialism
Australia portal New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Tasmania Australian Capital Territory Northern Territory
v t e

The Corporations Act 2001 is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which sets out the laws dealing with business entities in Australia. The company is the Act's primary focus, but other entities, such as partnerships and managed investment schemes, are also regulated. The Act is the foundational basis of Australian corporate law, with every Australian state having adopted the Act as required by the Australian Constitution.

The Act is the principal legislation regulating companies in Australia. It regulates matters such as the formation and operation of companies (in conjunction with a constitution that may be adopted by a company), duties of officers, takeovers and fundraising.

Background

Constitutional basis

Australian corporate law was the subject of a successful legal challenge in the High Court of Australia in New South Wales v Commonwealth (1990) ('The Corporations Act Case'). In that case, the Commonwealth was found to have insufficient power to legislate in relation to the formation of companies. Section 51(xx) of the Australian Constitution was found to provide sufficient power for legislation applicable only to foreign corporations and corporations already formed within the Commonwealth. This decision led to the creation of a co-operative scheme, involving a referral of power from the Australian states.

Under the Corporations Agreement between the states and the Commonwealth, all changes to the Act must be referred to the Ministerial Council for Corporations (MINCO) for approval. The co-operative scheme has come under pressure in recent times as the Commonwealth Government has sought to rely on the corporations power to legislate for its industrial relations reform agenda. This has led to some Labor states threatening to withdraw from the Corporations Agreement.

The Act

The Act is published in five volumes covering a total of ten chapters. The chapters have multiple parts, and within each part there may be multiple divisions. Each chapter contains a collection of sections.

Volume 1

Chapters 1–2J

Chapter 1—Introductory
Chapter 2A—Registering a company
Chapter 2B—Basic features of a company
Chapter 2C—Registers
Chapter 2D—Officers and employees
Chapter 2E—Related party transactions
Chapter 2F—Members’ rights and remedies
Chapter 2G—Meetings
Chapter 2H—Shares
Chapter 2J—Transactions affecting share capital

Volume 2

Chapters 2L–5B

Chapter 2L—Debentures
Chapter 2M—Financial reports and audit
Chapter 2N—Updating ASIC information about companies and registered schemes
Chapter 2P—Lodgments with ASIC
Chapter 5—External administration
Chapter 5A—Deregistration, and transfer of registration, of companies
Chapter 5B—Bodies corporate registered as companies, and registrable bodies

Volume 3

Chapters 5C–6D

Chapter 5C—Managed investment schemes
Chapter 6—Takeovers
Chapter 6A—Compulsory acquisitions and buy‑outs
Chapter 6B—Rights and liabilities in relation to Chapter 6 and 6A matters
Chapter 6C—Information about ownership of listed companies and managed investment schemes
Chapter 6CA—Continuous disclosure
Chapter 6D—Fundraising

Volume 4

Chapter 7

Chapter 7—Financial services and markets
- Part 7.10—Market misconduct and other prohibited conduct relating to financial products and financial services
  - 1041A Market manipulation

Volume 5

Schedules 3 and 4

Schedule 3—Penalties
Schedule 4—Transfer of financial institutions and friendly societies

Amendments

The Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act 2004 simplified the statute, which, at 3,354 pages, dwarfs those of other nations such as Sweden, whose corporations statute is less than 200 pages long.

External links

Corporations Act 2001, at the Federal Register of Legislation
Corporations Regulations 2001, at the Federal Register of Legislation
Michael Kirby (18 March 2005). "Foreword: Company Law in Australia: Principles and Applications". Retrieved 27 January 2013. (which mentions the complexity of the Corporations Act)

Categories: