Australian Securities & Investments Commission updates virtual meeting guidance and says webcasts alone do not qualify as hybrid AGMs

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has released updated guidance on virtual meetings for companies and registered schemes, clarifying how it expects the Corporations Act meeting provisions to operate for hybrid and virtual-only formats and reinforcing expectations around shareholder participation. The updated FAQs state ASIC does not view the Corporations Act as always requiring a telephone line, provided the virtual meeting format still allows members to exercise rights orally and in writing and the technology meets broader meeting requirements. The guidance also clarifies that simply providing a webcast of a meeting held at a physical venue does not meet the requirements of a hybrid meeting because it does not enable members to participate by asking questions or voting. ASIC reiterated that any meeting format must be permitted by the entity’s constitution, properly disclosed and deliver an opportunity for members to be heard, and noted it is monitoring notices of meeting and misconduct reports after identifying cases where entities may have held virtual-only meetings without an expressly permitting constitution or without notifying ASIC as required.