Australia: Superannuation & Funds Management - Whats News - 8 October 2014

In the media

Deloitte backs compulsory annuitisation
MEDIA – 3 October 2014 – Superannuation consulting firm Deloitte has reiterated its call for compulsory annuitisation for Australian retirees. Deloitte has long expressed concern that superannuation will not provide adequate support in retirement for most Australians unless they work longer or contribute more to their super. More...

Lobbyists at odds over MySuper stats
MEDIA – 3 October 2014 – The lobby groups representing the retail and not-for-profit superannuation sectors have offered up competing assessments of APRA's MySuper statistics. APRA released its interim report on the performance of 116 MySuper products this week. More...

New APRA data shows FSC members outperform industry funds in MySuper
FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL – 2 October 2014 – The first report on MySuper performance and fees released by APRA is a game changer for the way superannuation is reported, the Financial Services Council said. The FSC Director of Policy said for the first time, Australians have APRA data which directly compares the fees and performance of MySuper products. More...

Banks slow to move members super savings into lower cost funds
INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA – 2 October 2014 – The APRA report confirms that just $13 billion of savings in bank-owned and other retail funds has been transferred to MySuper funds, with $77 billion dollars of workers default super savings remaining in higher cost super funds so that banks can maximise revenues at the expense of Australians retirement nest eggs. More...

New MySuper data highlights need for independent default fund selection
AIST – 2 October 2014 – MySuper data released today highlights the need for an independent body to select default funds from the MySuper pool, according to the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST). More...

Move retail super to MySuper: AIST
MEDIA – 3 October 2014 – AIST has urged the government to immediately roll over all retail fund balances into MySuper products. AIST policy and research executive manager current grandfathering arrangements have "effectively locked up" billions of dollars of super savings until 2017, which means thousands of consumers are "paying higher fees". More...

Publication of superannuation statistics and confidentiality of superannuation data
APRA – 1 October 2014 – Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) today released the Response to submissions on publication of superannuation statistics and confidentiality of superannuation data. More...

NAB pays $10,200 penalty for misleading statements in PDS
ASIC – 1 October 2014 – National Australia Bank (NAB) has paid $10,200 in penalties after ASIC issued an infringement notice for making potentially misleading statements in a product disclosure statement (PDS) for the NAB Annuity Term Deposit. More...

ASIC and AFSA announce refreshed memorandum of understanding
ASIC – 2 October 2014 – Australian Financial Security Authority's Chief Executive Veronique Ingram and Commissioner John Price of ASIC have announced the release of a new Memorandum of Understanding between AFSA and ASIC. More...

APRA releases quarterly MySuper statistics
APRA – 2 October 2014 – APRA has released the first editions of an interim Quarterly MySuper Statistics report, for the quarters ending September 2013, December 2013, March 2014 and June 2014. APRA Member Helen Rowell says the statistics provide a central source of information on MySuper products and support the broader transparency objectives of the Stronger Super reforms. More...

APRA confirms MySuper non-confidentiality rules
MEDIA – 2 October 2014 – The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) will treat MySuper product data as non-confidential, following a period of industry consultation. In the short term, APRA will publish data on MySuper fees, costs and net returns for the purposes of the requirement in section 348A of the SIS Act. More...

AIST attacks big-bank default grandfathering
MEDIA – 1 October 2014 – Bank-owned retail funds should be forced to roll all their default superannuation members out of high-fee products into low-fee MySuper products, according to the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST). More...

The five principles that must underpin the design of the retirement income system
ASFA – 29 September 2014 – In its submission to the 'Review of retirement income stream regulation', the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has outlined five principles under which it believes the retirement income system should be designed to ensure it delivers on both its fiscal and social objectives. More...

Legal claims hampering group insurance
MEDIA – 24 September 2014 – The Insurance Administration Expenses report commissioned by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia said plaintiff lawyers are seeking resolutions before it is possible for internal reviews or reviews by the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal to be conducted. More...

ASIC seeks feedback on super disclosure
MEDIA – 24 September 2014 – ASIC is seeking industry feedback to help clarify proposed fee and cost disclosure requirements for superannuation and managed investment products. ASIC said it is particularly interested in feedback on proposed changes to clarify requirements for indirect costs, double counting and fee issues for superannuation products. More...

SPAA urges overhaul of education and training requirements
SPAA – 23 September 2014 – The SPAA has told a parliamentary inquiry that the education and training requirements for the financial advisory industry need to be radically overhauled, stating the current system of a minimum standard of education and competencies for financial advisors via ASIC's Regulatory Guide 146 (RG 146) has failed the industry. More...

Independent Statutory Advice Board is essential to regain trust
FSC – 23 September 2014 – The Financial Services Council is advocating for the establishment of a statutory, independent, Advice Competency Standards Board (ACSB) for financial advisers to rebuild the trust of Consumers in financial advice, John Brogden, CEO of the FSC said today. More...

Advice associations under conflict of interest on professionalism: ASIC
MEDIA – 23 September 2014 – Advice industry self-regulation is not an appropriate model to increase professionalism in the financial advice industry, as associations have "an inevitable conflict of interest," the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has argued. More...

Industry super funds outperformed bank-owned funds by 1.97% over past 10 years
INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA – 19 September 2014 – New data from independent ratings agency SuperRatings shows that industry super funds have outperformed bank-owned super funds over the last 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 year periods, based on balanced fund median rolling returns to 31 August 2014. With four in five Australians not choosing their own super fund and the Government freeze on increases to the super guarantee, the data reinforces the need for a default super safety net. More...

Annual concessional caps in the spotlight
MEDIA – 18 September 2014 – The annual concessional contributions limit could be replaced with a lifetime cap if the Federal Government accepts the proposals of the superannuation industry. More...

Response to Submissions on proposed changes to superannuation data and publications
APRA – 1 September 2014 – APRA has released its Response to Submissions on the proposed changes to APRA's quarterly superannuation statistical publications. More...

First edition: Interim Quarterly MySuper Statistics report, September 2013, December 2013, March 2014 and June 2014
APRA – 2 October 2014 – As at 30 June 2014, 93 registered superannuation entity (RSE) licensees offered a total of 116 MySuper products, and total assets held in MySuper products were $363.2 billion, representing 32% of total RSE assets. Includes 120 new statistics that will include a range of information on MySuper products – including fees and revenues. More...

APRA: letter to all RSE licensees regarding risk management declarations under SPS 220
APRA – 1 October 2014 – APRA noted that the risk management declaration in CPS 220 does not contain any reference to materiality. APRA confirmed that it considers that the concept of materiality is appropriate for the Board declaration and indicated that the wording of CPS 220 would be amended accordingly. More...

ASIC clarify fee and cost disclosure requirements: submissions
A draft Class Order has been provided to a number of industry associations and other industry participants for consideration and industry feedback on our proposed amendments. Feedback and comments on the proposed technical amendments are due by 17 October 2014. More...

AIST submissions: Promoting SG compliance – ANAO audit in progress
AIST – 19 September 2014 – This is an audit in progress that is presently being undertaken by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO). The objective of the audit is to assess the effectiveness of the ATO to support employers to comply with their SG obligations and identify and deal with those who do not. More...

ASFA Submissions

30 September 2014 – Submission to AUSTRAC: Use of Document Verification Service for customer identification and verification.

29 September 2014 – Submission: Review of retirement income stream regulation.

Legislation

Commonwealth

ASIC Instrument [14/0952]
COMLAW – 30 September 2014 – This instrument provides a class order exemption for Phase 1 and 2 Reporting Entities from complying with certain provisions of the ASIC Derivative Transaction Rules (Reporting) 2013. Registered 30 September 2014 / Tabled HR 1 October 2014 / Tabled Senate 2 October 2014. More...

[Exposure Draft] Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 7) Bill 2014
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY – 23 September 2014 – The measure would clarify that a tax integrity rule will not be triggered when superannuation benefits are rolled over to another fund as part of a merger between funds. Legal requirements, such as those imposed by the Freedom of Information Act 1982, may affect the confidentiality of your submission. Closing date for submissions: 20 October 2014. More...

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 10 of 2014
COMLAW – 30 September 2014 – This instrument determines information provided by superannuation entities under Reporting Standard SRS 001.0, 410.0, 533.0, 602.0, 700.0, 702.0 and 710.0. This determination applies to information in the reporting forms given to APRA pursuant to the following reporting standards, where a period of at least 14 days has elapsed from the date the RSE licensee was required to provide the information specified in the relevant reporting standard. More...

Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 4) Bill 2014
HANSARD – SENATE – 25 September 2014 - Bill debated, third reading.

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