A contractual clause requiring a company to grant a mortgage or charge 'if requested' does not create an equitable charge or equitable mortgage in the absence of a request, particularly where the security is expressed as unspecified alternatives and the form requires further agreement. The extended definition of 'charge' in s 9 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), which includes 'an agreement to give or execute a charge or mortgage, whether on demand or otherwise', does not operate to confer security where no immediate equitable interest exists at general law. Payments to directors who hold such contingent rights to security remain payments of unsecured debts for the purposes of the unfair preference provisions.
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