Directors will be required to register for a unique identification number that they will keep for life, much like a tax file number under a rewrite of Australia’s business registers.
ASIC does not currently verify the identity of directors and Elvis Presley and Bob Marley could “quite possibly” be registered. Or at least that was the view of former ASIC Commissioner John Price at a 2020 Parliamentary inquiry.
The introduction of the Director Identification Number (DIN) regime is part of the Government’s Modernisation of Business Registers (MBR) Program creating greater transparency and tracking the movements of individuals over time. The MBR will unify the Australian Business Register and 31 ASIC business registers, including the register of companies. In effect, the system will create one source of truth across Government agencies for individuals and entities and will be managed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Why a director ID?
Under the new regime, all directors will need to have their identity confirmed when they consent to being a director, so no more Elvis Presley unless your name really is Elvis Presley. You will then keep this number permanently, even if you cease to be a director – the number will not be issued to another person. The result is an ID system that traces a director’s relationships across companies, enabling better tracking of directors of failed companies and prevents the use of fictitious identities. The target is illegal phoenixing. Phoenixing is when directors transfer the assets of an existing company to a new company without paying full value, leaving the debts with the old company. Once the assets have been transferred, the old company is liquidated leaving creditors out of pocket. Phoenixing has a ripple effect in the community and is estimated to cost between $2.9 billion and $5.1 billion annually. The real face of the impact is to the unpaid creditors – mostly customers and contractors, unpaid employee entitlements, and the broader cost through unpaid taxes.
ASIC does not currently verify the identity of directors and Elvis Presley and Bob Marley could “quite possibly” be registered.
Once the assets are transferred to a new company, the directors then continue to operate the business in a new entity. They just set aside the problems and start again with the benefit of the good parts of their old company as a foundation.
Who will need a director ID?
The DIN is very broad and introduces the concept of an ‘eligible officer’. An eligible officer is a director who:
- is appointed to the position of director, or is appointed to the position of an alternate director and is acting in that capacity (regardless of the name that is given to that position); or
- any other officer of the registered body who is an officer of a kind prescribed by the regulations.
The definition picks up the concept of ‘shadow directors’ who act in the capacity of directors through influence and control but are not directors by title. That is, its feasible that someone who is not a director but is seen to be making decisions on behalf of the company can be held to account.
An eligible officer is a director of a:
- company
- registered foreign company
- registered Australian body under the Corporations Act such as an association or a charity, or
- an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation (which are registered under the CATSI Act).
Better monitoring and bigger teeth for ASIC
The introduction of a structured director verification system comes with greater controls and influence by the regulators to enforce the law with civil penalties of up to $200,000 in situations which include:
- Failure to register within the relevant timeframes
- Applying for multiple DINs
- Misrepresenting a DIN, and
- Accessorial liability where someone seeks to pervert the system
To get guidance on the New Lifetime Director IDs, please get in touch with out team.
