The intra-and intermolecular electrostatic interactions in hexachloroborazine are discussed, and are combined with CNDO/BW semi-empirical molecular-orbital calculations, and with the results of similar calculations on borazine and B-trichloroborazine to show that hexachloroborazine has a regular hexagonal ring structure. The X-ray diffraction analysis of Haasnoot, Verschoor, Romers & Groeneveld [Acta Cryst. (1972). B28, 2070-2073] indicated alternating B-N bond lengths. The X-ray diffraction data have been reinterpreted and shown to be consistent with a regular hexagonal ring structure for hexachloroborazine.