Creators of ASIC’s ROCAP documents describe their process

 Creators of ASIC’s ROCAP documents describe their process  ASIC, Corporate Insolvency, External administration, Forms, Insolvency Law, Insolvency practices, Regulation  Comments Off on Creators of ASIC’s ROCAP documents describe their process
Jun 212019
 

Creators of ASIC’s ROCAP documents describe their process

Soon after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued a form titled “Report On Company Activities and Property“ (ROCAP), the creators of the form – the Communications Research Institute (CRI) – published an article describing the process they went through, their standards and the results of tests carried out.

Form Design process

CRI form design procedure (Source: CRI)

The ROCAP – which replaced the Report as to Affairs (RATA) – is used in corporate insolvencies, where company directors are required to supply liquidators and other external administrators with details of a failed company’s present position, assets, liabilities and history.

Below is a copy of the article written in October 2018 by the head of CRI, Professor David Sless.

As the reader will see, CRI reports that “in the final round of testing (of the new form/documents) participants described the documents as ‘straightforward’ (and that) they easily followed both instructions and the related form-filling task.”

If that’s how the form and accompanying documents are received and processed in practice, it will be a welcome change. Because, by contrast, CRI says it found that “not a single director who participated in the CRI testing of the original RATA could use it appropriately”.

By now (June 2019) feedback to ASIC should indicate whether the new design developed by CRI has been a success, i.e., is regarded by directors and liquidators as more user-friendly and useful. CRI says that “once introduced, the forms and instructions will be carefully monitored and further refined or changed as needed.”

A NEW FORM HELPING FAILED COMPANIES
A Communications Research Institute (CRI) Model project

WHEN A COMPANY fails and an External Administrator is appointed, the Administrator sends a director of the company a form to complete by a set date. The form, known until now as the Report As To Affairs (RATA) had remained largely unchanged since the 19th century.  The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), which issues the RATA under the Corporations Act 2001, contracted CRI to develop a new design that would be:

  • user friendly,
  • consistent and logical,
  • visually appealing,
  • easy to read an complete.

CRI drew on its extensive research and practice in forms design spanning over three decades.  CRI collaborated and consulted throughout the project with ASIC and a diverse group of professionals, academics, industry bodies, and former company directors, all of whom contributed to the design of the new form. 

External administrators, in particular, who were the main RATA users told us that it failed to provide them with adequate information on the companies they administered.  CRI, in consultation with ASIC determined that the needs of administrators had to be taken into account in the redesign.

Receiving the RATA is an unhappy and often traumatic experience for company directors.  It marks the end of the company’s life, handing over its remains and final fate to an External Administrator who disposes of it and its assets in the best interests of its creditors.  The feedback showed that in that handing over, filling out the RATA was itself traumatic.

Tellingly, not a single director who participated in the CRI testing of the original RATA could use it appropriately.

The redesign involved all aspects of the form’s structure, language, layout, colour and content, and a change of name from RATA to are more easily understood name: ROCAP – Report on Company Activities and Property.  CRI undertook three rounds of designing, testing, and consultation with ASIC and stakeholders, followed by redesign.

The result is a totally new set of three documents to replace the RATA: Part A contains most of the RATA questions but in a totally new format, Part B contains new questions about the company records, history and management, and the third document contains detailed instructions for completing Parts A and B….

The instructions … are designed to exactly complement the questions, using the same numbering system throughout.

Observations from previous research shows that form users avoid reading instructions on a form because they see the task is primarily a form-filling task rather than are reading-and-form-filling task.  In CRI’s designs, the instructions are always in a separate document, physically removed from the form filling tasks.

Careful design refinement of the navigation between the two documents as a result of testing enabled easy navigation between the two.  In the final round of testing, participants describe the document as “straightforward”. They easily followed both instructions and the related form-filling task.  The new design meets all CRI standards for good information design.

Once introduced, the forms and instructions will be carefully monitored and further refined or changed as needed.

Professor David Sless

Communication Research institute – October 2018

My previous posts on this subject are titled “Framework of new Report as to Affairs (RATA) drafted by ASIC” and “ASIC notifies liquidators that ROCAP is to replace RATA”. 

I plan to post more articles about the new form and documents.

All about the Report As To Affairs in corporate insolvency

 ASIC, Corporate Insolvency, Insolvency Law, Insolvency practices, Regulation  Comments Off on All about the Report As To Affairs in corporate insolvency
Jul 112012
 

The corporate regulator may not care much about it but liquidators do, and they want some changes made.

The Report as to Affairs (RATA) is a form which is prepared for the purpose of showing the financial  position of a company at commencement of its entry into liquidation, controllership or  administration.

Between November 2011 and March 2012, and with support from a scholarship administered by the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia (IPA),  I carried out extensive research into the RATA, including a random survey of 105 official liquidators.

My research paper is now available from the IPA or from the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation.

Titled “An Appraisal of the Report as to Affairs”, the paper is a report on the written survey of official liquidators concerning the Report as to Affairs form and associated compliance issues.  The report also examines the history and purpose of the Report as to Affairs, laws which impose duties to submit the form, and ideas for change.

The paper concludes with several recommendations and observations, including the following:

“This survey of liquidators has brought to light substantial criticisms and concerns  about the RATA and a desire for change.  It coincides with moves towards  harmonisation of personal and corporate insolvency regulation, and with the start of  the Personal Property Securities Act, which makes significant changes to priority  rules for secured parties as well as introducing a new vocabulary.  All this suggests  that it’s time the RATA form was revisited and overhauled.    The ASIC should make the RATA the subject of an inquiry through a Consultative  Paper …. The ultimate aims of the consultation would be to produce a new or redesigned form, a  Regulatory Guide to the form, and an information sheet for directors.  The inquiry  should consider, for example, what constitutes an acceptable standard for a RATA –  i.e., when does a professed RATA qualify as a valid RATA – and how the receipt of a  RATA that fails to meet that standard should be handled.”

Appended to the main research report is a supplement which reproduces verbatim all the ideas, suggestions and comments made by liquidators concerning what is wrong with the present RATA and how it could be improved.

Thanks to Professor Ian Ramsay, of Melbourne University, who is Director of the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation, the full research paper appears in SAI Global Corporate Law Bulletin No. 178.  A copy of the paper (including the annexures) is available as one pdf file from http://cclsr.law.unimelb.edu.au/files/The_RATA_-_research_paper_-_Keenan_-_2012_-_IPA_TTS.pdf

A shortened version of the paper appears in the latest edition of the Australian Insolvency Journal , which is published by the IPA (see Volume 24 Number 2, pages 10 to 23).  The link to that version is  http://www.ipaa.com.au/default.asp?menuid=319&artid=1157

I am indebted to Michael Murray, Legal Director of the IPA, who vetted the research paper and edited the version that appears in the Australian Insolvency Journal.  It was as a result of his enthusiasm and status in insolvency law circles that Professor Ian Ramsay took an interest in the paper and had it published by the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation. Michael has also forwarded the paper to the ASIC, ITSA and relevant government departments.

Free Excel template: corporate insolvency Report as to Affairs (Form 507)

 ASIC, Forms, Insolvency practices, Regulation, Templates  Comments Off on Free Excel template: corporate insolvency Report as to Affairs (Form 507)
Aug 162011
 

I have created –  in Microsoft Excel format – the current  Australian statutory companies Report as to Affairs form.  It is  free to download and/or view from my website.  Click  HERE for the forms page and look for Form 507, MS Excel version.