386AG. Duty of company and foreign company to investigate and obtain information

Question 1

386AG. Duty of company and foreign company to investigate and obtain information

Answer 1

General overview
[386AG.01] Section 386AG casts the duty on the company or foreign company to investigate and obtain information on its registrable controllers.

Question 2

Degree of knowledge

Answer 2

[386AG.02] Section 386AG(1) and (2) set out a chain of registrable controllers which a company or foreign company must take reasonable steps to find out their identities for the purpose of the register of controllers. The degree of knowledge required of a company or foreign company to register its registrable controllers is actual knowledge or “reasonable grounds to believe” that such individual(s) or legal entities are its registrable controllers: s 386AG(2)(a). Subsection (2)(a)(ii) provides that the company or foreign company (A) shall require its controller (B) to state whether he knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that any other person (C) is its registrable controller, or is likely to have that knowledge and to give such particulars of C that are within B’s knowledge: s 386AG(2)(a)(ii). In addition, A must give notice to any person (D) whom A knows or has reasonable grounds to believe knows, the identity of the person who is the registrable controller of A or is likely to have that knowledge requiring D to state whether D knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that any other person (E) is a registrable controller of A or is likely to have that knowledge and to give such particulars of E that are within D’s knowledge: s 386AG(2)(b)(i) and (ii).

Question 3

Legal privilege

Answer 3

[386AG.03] Subsection (6) provides that an addressee of a notice for information given under subsection (2) must comply with the notice within the time specified thereunder except that he is not required to provide any information that is the subject of legal privilege.