Placing a society into liquidation
What the process involves, and where to begin
New legislation for incorporated societies
An incorporated society can be placed into liquidation by its members, or by the High Court.
In most cases, liquidation is associated with financial difficulty (being unable to pay your debts), but a society might also be placed into liquidation for reasons such as a falling membership, or the suspension of operations for a period of 12 months or more.
The liquidation process
Liquidation begins when a liquidator is appointed. The liquidation process involves distributing the society's assets and closing the society down. The society is then removed from the register.
Commencing liquidation
Once a liquidator has been appointed they must file their Notice of Appointment with us before the end of the next working day. The liquidation process can then begin.
The ‘Notice of Appointment’ must include:
- The full legal name of the liquidator(s)
- The fact they have been appointed
- The date and time of their appointment, and the address and telephone number to which enquiries can be made.
- Who made the appointment and, if the liquidator was appointed by the court, who applied to the court for the appointment.
Filing the notice of appointment with the Registrar
To file a notice of appointment online, you’ll need:
- a RealMe® login, and
- an online services account for the Incorporated Societies Register.
Step by step
- Log in to your online services account.
- Search for, and select, the incorporated society you wish to file liquidation documents for.
- From the 'Maintain Incorporated Society' menu select 'Lodge External Administration Documents'.
- Select the document category 'Liquidation' then the document type 'Notice of Appointment of Liquidator'.
- Upload the Notice of Appointment and select the 'Submit' button.
What happens next
A liquidator’s role is to:
- investigate your society's financial affairs
- establish the cause of its failure
- investigate possible offences by your society or an officer of your society.
The liquidator takes control of, and freezes all of, your society's unsecured assets which are then sold to repay your creditors.
If necessary the liquidator holds a creditors' meeting to:
- help identify any previously unknown assets
- gather information about your society
- give creditors an opportunity to raise and discuss issues relevant to the liquidation.
The liquidator has significant powers to contact and deal with your society's:
- members
- past and present employees
- receivers, accountants, auditors and bank officers
- solicitors
- others involved in forming or managing the society.
The liquidator must prepare regular reports about the activities and outcomes of the liquidation for creditors and shareholders, and file these reports with us.
Filing liquidation documents
Follow the same step by step instructions outlined above to log in and file the liquidator’s reports and other liquidation documents. You'll need to select the relevant document type each time you file a document.
Related information
Liquidation of a society follows almost identical processes as for a company. To learn more about the liquidation process, the role of the liquidator, and what happens next, please refer to the following help guides on the Companies Register website.
