ASIC finds most formerly 'grandfathered' large private companies are not lodging accounts
ASIC said on 20 August 2025 that 755 of 1,166 large proprietary companies that lost their 'grandfathered' exemption in 2022 had not lodged financial reports for FY23 or FY24. Auditors had mostly not reported the breaches. ASIC launched a wider surveillance of non-lodgement by large proprietary companies, due to finish in early 2026, and warned of enforcement.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) published findings on 20 August 2025 about large proprietary companies that used to be exempt from lodging their financial reports.
Background
Some large proprietary companies, large since 1995 and audited every year since, had a 'grandfathered' exemption from lodging financial reports. The Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 1) Act 2022, enacted on 10 August 2022, removed it for financial years ending on or after that date. They must now lodge audited financial reports within four months of year end, like other large proprietary companies.
What ASIC found
- 755 of 1,166 previously grandfathered companies had not lodged for FY23 or FY24.
- Of 58 suspected large proprietary companies ASIC contacted, 32 had not lodged.
- ASIC had not received auditors' notifications of the breaches for most of them.
- Most lodged after ASIC stepped in, but some remained outstanding.
What ASIC will do
ASIC began a broader surveillance of non-lodgement by large proprietary companies, due to finish in the first quarter of 2026, and said it would use its full range of enforcement tools. It asked auditors to report suspected breaches.
What to do
Check whether each Australian proprietary company in a group is 'large' for the year, and diary the four-month lodgement deadline.