How to check an Australian company
Search the company free on ASIC's registers and ABN Lookup. A current company extract (A$10) adds directors and a Pty Ltd company's largest shareholders.
- Search ASIC's registers by name or ACN, free: its type, registration date and filings.
- Check its ABN on ABN Lookup, free: whether it is active or cancelled, and its GST status.
- Buy a current company extract (A$10): directors, secretary and, for a Pty Ltd company, its top 20 shareholders per class.
- Search the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) by its ACN (A$2) for security interests over its assets.
- Search ASIC's published notices for insolvency notices, and Federal Law Search for federal court cases.
What the register leaves out: the accounts of most small Pty Ltd companies, which need not prepare them, and what the press reports.
Or send the company's name and city to LightRay. In about 12 minutes: who owns it, who runs it, what it has filed, any court matters and its press. First three free.
Sources: ASIC, ABN Lookup, PPSR, ASIC published notices, Federal Law Search.