When do I need a Resident Director in Australia?

When do I need to have an Australian resident director to form a company under the Australian Corporations Act?

Introduction

In Australia, company directors are an essential part of the formation of a company. Foreign companies seeking to establish operations in Australia, generally form an Australian company to legally operate, and are often established as a subsidiary company of the foreign head company.

There are laws in place to ensure foreign companies operating in Australia are accountable to Australian regulators and to the customers they do business with.

Pty Ltd Company

An Australian company must have at least one director if formed as a proprietary limited (‘Pty Ltd’) company, and that one director must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. A Pty Ltd company is a privately operated company that has not made its shares available to the general public. A Pty Ltd company is not required to have a company secretary, however if the company chooses to appoint a company secretary, the secretary must reside in Australia.

Ltd Company

A public company is a type of company that can raise funds from the public by issuing shares, and may be listed on the ASX or may have many shareholders without being listed. In Australia, public companies typically display Limited (‘Ltd’) at the end of the company name to show that the company’s shares are publicly held. A public company is governed by more stringent legal and reporting requirements than a Pty Ltd company.

A Ltd company must have at least three directors and at least two of the directors must live in Australia. A public company must also have at least one company secretary and the secretary must live in Australia.

Resident Director Services

I provide resident director services to our international clients. Typically, the types of clients I serve are entities seeking to invest in Australian assets or to provide financial services under an Australian Financial Services Licence (‘AFSL’) or an Australian Credit Licence (‘ACL’), on behalf of a foreign family or company.

My resident director services provide an Australian point of contact for people and companies that do business with the foreign controlled Australian company. I also manage and oversee the affairs of the Australian company on behalf of its foreign-resident directors and foreign-owned shareholders.

As part of the services I offer, I can make strategic introductions to our panel of qualified legal and accounting firms, and also assist with corporate advisory services via our corporate advisory firm Yarmouth Group.

As a qualified Chartered Governance Professional with the Chartered Governance Institute, I can be a key Australian partner to the Board of a foreign holding company and can manage the legal, risk management and compliance obligations of the Australian subsidiary company.  

I can also be involved with the governance, application process and management as a Responsible Manager of an AFSL or ACL application to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (‘ASIC’).

Conclusion

If you are seeking to establish Australian operations and require the services of an experienced Australian resident director, I can greatly assist your foreign board or family to achieve excellent levels of governance, risk management and compliance with your record keeping obligations.

https://www.andrewsmcneil.com/