Public Trustee of Queensland v Fortress Credit Corporation (Aus) 11 Pty Ltd

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAFRENCH CJ,GUMMOW, HAYNE, KIEFEL AND BELL JJPUBLIC TRUSTEE OF QUEENSLAND  APPELLANTANDFORTRESS CREDIT CORPORATION (AUS) 11 PTY LTD & ORS  RESPONDENTSPublic Trustee of Queensland v Fortress Credit Corporation (Aus) 11 Pty Ltd [2010] HCA 291 September 2010B9/2010ORDER1.        Appeal dismissed.2.Appellant to pay first respondent's costs.On appeal from the Supreme Court of QueenslandRepresentationW Sofronoff QC, Solicitor-General of the State of Queensland with D B O'Sullivan for the appellant (instructed by Clayton Utz Lawyers)D F Jackson QC with M J Luchich for the first respondent (instructed by Baker & McKenzie Solicitors)Submitting appearance for the second, third and fourth respondentsNo appearance for the fifth respondentNotice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSPublic Trustee of Queensland v Fortress Credit Corporation (Aus) 11 Pty LtdCorporations – Charge – Registration – First respondent ("Fortress") obtained fixed and floating charge over assets of second respondent ("Octaviar") – Charge secured all moneys payable under or in relation to certain documents, including such documents as Fortress and Octaviar agreed in writing – Fortress and Octaviar subsequently agreed by deed ("Deed") that charge secured liability of Octaviar to Fortress under guarantee – Whether charge void, to extent it secured Octaviar's guarantee, under s 266 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("the Act") – Whether execution of Deed required notice to be lodged under s 268 of the Act – Whether Deed effected "variation in the terms of the charge" – Relevance of legislative policy expressed...