{"id":1516,"date":"2019-08-21T17:36:08","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T17:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/?p=1516"},"modified":"2022-08-03T16:03:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T05:03:56","slug":"electronic-signing-and-paper-requirement-for-deeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/legal\/posts\/electronic-signing-and-paper-requirement-for-deeds","title":{"rendered":"Electronic Signing by Company Officers and the Paper Requirement for Deeds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Signing documents is such a basic \u2013 and seemingly straightforward\n\u2013 part of everyday business life in Australia that it can be a surprise to\ndiscover that the law on the execution of documents is still not completely\nsettled in some respects. In fact, lawyers must ensure they are actively\nwatching this space for current developments. A case in point is the following notorious\nquestion that crops up all the time for the transactional lawyer: can company\nofficers sign <strong>deeds<\/strong> electronically?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up until now, considered views in the Australian legal\nprofession have ranged from &#8220;absolutely not&#8221; to somewhere around &#8220;that&#8217;d\nbe nice, but let&#8217;s not go there&#8221;, despite the commonplace electronic methods\nby which documents are sent, shared and handled in boardrooms and law firms in\npractice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, a series of recent cases have shown that, at least in some circumstances, judges are increasingly prepared to hold that the use of electronic signatures to execute deeds may be possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The legal views to date<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a previous article for <em>Legal Insight<\/em>, <a href=\"http:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/posts\/electronic-deeds-recent-developments-nsw\">Electronic Deeds: Recent Developments in NSW<\/a>, we discussed the effect of recent New South Wales legislation abolishing the centuries-old common law rule that a deed must be &#8220;a writing on paper, parchment or vellum&#8221; \u2013 which had so far generally been seen as an absolute necessity, needing legislation to change it. The article also highlighted the key issues regarding the power of company officers to sign documents electronically. Building on this in relation to deeds, the relevant objections can be summarised as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The <em>Electronic\nTransactions Act 1999<\/em> (Cth) (the <strong>ETA<\/strong>),\nwhich validates the use of electronic signatures at a federal level, doesn&#8217;t\napply to the <em>Corporations Act 2001 <\/em>(Cth)\n(the <strong>Corporations Act<\/strong>).<\/li><li>Without the benefit of the ETA, there&#8217;s\npersistent doubt about \u2013 and arguments for and against \u2013 whether electronic signing\nsatisfies the methods prescribed in section 127 of the Corporations Act. These\nare the preferred methods for a company to execute a document so that people\ndealing with the company can have the benefit of certain statutory assumptions.<\/li><li>Even if company officers can sign electronically\nfor general purposes under section 127, this still wouldn&#8217;t overcome the\n&#8220;paper rule&#8221; where deeds are concerned, which appears to prevent the use\nof electronic facsimile signatures.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Or does it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Section 127(3) of the\nCorporations Act allows a company to execute a document &#8220;as a deed&#8221; using\nthe prescribed signing method. The usual view is that all this really does is\nprovide a uniform way for companies to sign deeds validly across all Australian\njurisdictions, instead of under the various methods mandated by older state\nlegislation relating to deeds and corporations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s another argument, however, which is that section\n127(3) actually <em>overrides<\/em> the common\nlaw requirements for signing of deeds when a company is executing. On this\nreading, it <em>gives effect as a deed<\/em> to\nany document that&#8217;s expressed to be a deed and signed by the relevant company\nofficers \u2013 even where the document is an electronic one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To date, that argument hasn&#8217;t been widely endorsed by lawyers and legal scholars, on the general basis that if that effect really had been intended, the statute should have spelt it out expressly, since the paper rule is so fundamental and has been around for hundreds of years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Great Southern \/ Bendigo and Adelaide Bank debt recovery cases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The high profile collapse of the Great Southern agribusiness\nschemes in 2009 has led to a large number of cases in the superior courts of\nseveral Australian states over the past several years. Among other things, these\ncases have resulted in a burst of recent judicial analysis about the law of\nsigning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The relevant cases tend to share some elements of the\nfollowing basic facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Great Southern Group marketed and operated a\nnumber of agribusiness managed investment schemes, and invited investors to\napply for finance to invest in the schemes. Finance was usually provided by a\npreferred lender entity, now part of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank group (the\nBank).<\/li><li>The loan application contained a power of\nattorney, which appointed a Great Southern company (usually Great Southern\nFinance Pty Ltd (GSF)) as attorney for the investors.<\/li><li>Under that power of attorney, GSF officers executed\na loan deed with the lender on behalf of the borrowing entity and, usually, on\nbehalf of the individual investors as guarantors.<\/li><li>The signatures of the GSF officers on the loan\ndeed were sometimes applied electronically, and sometimes without the actual\nparticipation of the officers themselves.<\/li><li>After the schemes failed, the Bank attempted to\nrecover the loans. The cases tend to turn on whether the power of attorney and\nthe loan deed were validly executed.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Courts have rarely directly queried whether there&#8217;s any\nexception to the paper rule in the context of company officers executing deeds.\nUsually, judges simply reaffirm that the paper rule is a longstanding,\nfundamental and accepted property of a deed: for example, see <em>Burkett v Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited<\/em>\n[2018] VSC 723 at [57]; <em>Bendigo and\nAdelaide Bank Limited v Russo<\/em> [2019] NSWSC 661 at [90]-[95].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in <em>Bendigo\nand Adelaide Bank Limited v Pickard<\/em> [2019] SASC 123 (at [57]), a decision\nof the South Australian Supreme Court apparently accepted a Victorian decision\nfrom the previous year in <em>Bendigo and\nAdelaide Bank Ltd v Laszczuk<\/em> [2018] VSC 388 as authority for the\nproposition that certain requirements for the execution of deeds had been\noverridden by section 127 of the Corporations Act, including with the effect of\nextinguishing or modifying the paper rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Relevantly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In <em>Laszczuk<\/em>,\ntwo officers of GSF had signed a deed by stamping their facsimile signatures on\na paper document, which was held to be valid. In that case, Croft J held that:<ul><li>section 127(3) provides a statutory method under\nCommonwealth law for a company to &#8220;execute a document as a deed&#8221; if\nthe document is signed as described in that section; and<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Commonwealth and state law (in that case,\nWestern Australian statute) about the execution of deeds could operate in\nparallel without inconsistency in this case. If there had been any conflict,\nhowever, the Corporations Act would have prevailed (at [44]).<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>There is no reason why the assumptions a person\nis entitled to make under s 129(5) of the Corporations Act should be confined\nto signatures made with a pen (at [45]).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In <em>Bendigo\nand Adelaide Bank Limited v DY Logistics Pty Ltd<\/em> [2018] VSC 558, the\nrelevant issue was whether two officers of GSF had validly signed a loan deed\nby the placement of their electronic facsimile signatures on that deed by a &#8220;person\nunknown&#8221;. In that case: <ul><li>Croft J found that it <em>was<\/em> possible to use electronic facsimile signatures, despite the\nETA not applying. In considering what &#8220;signed&#8221; should mean at common\nlaw, Croft J held that section 127 either requires:<ul><li>physical signature; or<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>personal authentication of a facsimile signature\n(at [50]-[55]). <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><ul><li>However, the loan deed still failed, because\nthere was no evidence of personal authentication by the signing officers. The relevant\nissue did not appear to be whether the deed was in electronic form or on paper\nat the time the signatures were applied.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In <em>Pickard<\/em>, the facts again concerned the application of two GSF officers&#8217; electronic facsimile signatures to an electronic version of a loan deed by another person. In that case: <ul><li>Stanley J applied <em>DY Logistics<\/em> in reaching the same conclusion that the deed failed for lack of personal authentication (at [60]-[71]).<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Stanley J also appeared to accept <em>Laszczuk<\/em> as authority for the proposition that the paper rule had been either extinguished or modified by statute. Again, the relevant issue was the officers&#8217; authentication of their signatures under section 127(1), rather than the paper requirement (at [57]-[59]). <\/li><\/ul><ul><li>On the issue of signing in counterparts, Stanley J also expressed the opinion that it would be insufficient for two signatures to appear on different counterparts, since no single counterpart would be properly executed under section 127(1) (at [70]).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do these cases mean for companies and deeds now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the strength of these cases, it appears that courts are\nindeed moving to support the position that facsimile signatures, including\nelectronic signatures, can be used by company officers to execute documents generally\nunder section 127, provided that: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>the signatories personally authenticate the signatures;\nand<\/li><li>each signed counterpart should have both\nofficers&#8217; signatures on it.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That seems to go a long way to resolving the historical\ndoubts about whether section 127 inherently requires physical &#8220;wet\nink&#8221; on paper, although it also shows that when electronic signatures are\nused, something more will be required than just the signatures, and it&#8217;s\nimportant to coordinate the sequence of signing by company officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the effect of section 127(3) on the paper rule for\ndeeds is less clear. The reasoning isn&#8217;t squarely set out in detail in any of\nthe cases, and the paragraph in <em>Laszczuk<\/em>\nrelied on doesn&#8217;t appear to discuss the paper rule directly. The decision in <em>Pickard<\/em> appears to endorse the interpretation\nof section 127(3) as &#8220;giving effect as a deed&#8221; to any document\n(including, implicitly, an electronic document) expressed to be a deed and\nsigned in accordance with section 127(1). It&#8217;s also worth noting that it didn&#8217;t\nappear necessary for the court in <em>DY\nLogistics<\/em> to consider any implications arising from the fact that the deed wasn&#8217;t\non paper at the time the electronic signatures were copied and pasted. If there\n<em>had<\/em> been the required personal\nauthentication, would the deeds then already have been valid? Would it have\nbeen relevant whether the deeds had then been printed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In summary \u2013 we may be seeing a developing acceptance (in at least South Australian and Victorian courts) that electronic signing of electronic deeds by company officers won&#8217;t be invalid only because of the paper rule, but a development this significant probably needs \u2013 and is likely to receive \u2013 further consideration by other courts to establish a clear trend. In the meantime, lawyers should still (as always) exercise caution when dealing with deeds and the question of <a href=\"http:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/posts\/electronic-signatures-guide\">electronic signing<\/a>. Printing a complete copy for physical signing is always still safest. However, these recent cases demonstrate that when it comes to fundamental assumptions about the law of signing, the ink may not be as dry as it appears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Practical Law subscribers can access more information on execution issues in the following practice notes on the Practical Law Australia site: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>Execution of deeds and documents by individuals<\/em><\/li><li><em>Execution of deeds and documents by companies incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)<\/em><\/li><li><em>Electronic signatures<\/em><\/li><li><em>Protocols for remote or virtual signings<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Not a subscriber of the Thomson Reuters legal guidance solution? Register your interest in <a href=\"https:\/\/legal.thomsonreuters.com.au\/products\/practical-law\/contact-us.aspx?form=practical-law-trial&amp;utm_source=legal-insight-AGM-article&amp;utm_medium=legalinsight&amp;utm_campaign=LI-AGM-article\">Practical Law<\/a> to find out more or request a demonstration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Signing documents is such a basic part of everyday business life in Australia, but the law on the execution of documents is still not completely settled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":1518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[646,647,1326,625],"tags":[134,206,209],"insight_job_role":[598,607,627],"insight_practice_area":[570,579,582],"class_list":["entry","author-shanreetan","has-excerpt","post-1516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-legal-commentary-and-opinion","category-legal-research","category-legal-trends","category-research-and-know-how","tag-company-officers","tag-electronic-deeds","tag-electronic-signatures","insight_job_role-in-house-lawyer","insight_job_role-legal-operations-manager","insight_job_role-senior-executive","insight_practice_area-administrative-law","insight_practice_area-commercial-law","insight_practice_area-company-law","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Electronic Signing by Company Officers and the Paper Requirement for Deeds - Legal Insight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Signing electronic documents is such a basic \u2013 and seemingly straightforward \u2013 part of everyday business life. 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