Australia: Superannuation, Funds Management and Financial Services - What's News - 2 December 2015

In the media

ASFA Annual General Meeting: Board appointments
ASFA – 26 November 2015 – ASFA welcomes two new members to the ASFA Board: Andrew Boal, Managing Director, Towers Watson has been appointed as a service provider representative and Linda Elkins, Executive General Manager, Colonial First State as a retail fund representative.  More...

ASFA publications
ASFA – 26 November 2015 – ASFA's 'Discussion Paper: the future interaction of superannuation with aged care and health care' was released at the recent ASFA 2015 National Conference. More...

APRA proposes revisions to prudential framework for securitisation (15.34)
APRA – 26 November 2015 – APRA has released for consultation a discussion paper on its proposals to revise the prudential framework for securitisation for authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs).  APRA is also releasing a draft Prudential Standard APS 120 Securitisation (APS 120).  More...  More...

FOFA Bill passes the Senate
TREASURY – 24 November 20915 – The Senate has passed the Corporations Amendment (Financial Advice Measures) Bill with bipartisan support.  The Bill includes an extension of the timeframe for advisers to send renewal opt-in notices and fee disclosure statements to retail clients from 30 to 60 days.  More...

ASIC updates guidance for fee and cost disclosure requirements for superannuation and managed investment products
ASIC – 24 November 2015 – ASIC has released updated guidance on fee and cost disclosure for trustees of superannuation funds and responsible entities of managed funds and other managed investment schemes.  More...

Super tax targeting
GRATTAN INSTITUTE – 24 November 2015 – Better targeting of superannuation contributions tax breaks could save the budget $3.9 billion a year, argues this report.  More...

ATO advice to employers: use SuperStream to cut super admin by 70%
GOVERNMENT – 24 November 2015 – The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is encouraging employers to cross SuperStream off their 'to-do' list ahead of the 30 June 2016 deadline and cut time spent on super administration.  More...

The best way to collect superannuation: Use the ATO
MEDIA – 23 November 2015 – The Australian Tax Office's own international risk assessment finds that as many as 11-20% of employers could be non-compliant to a greater or lesser degree and that non-compliance is endemic, especially in small businesses and industries with lots of cash payments and contracting arrangements.  More...

ASIC accepts enforceable undertaking from J.P. Morgan entities
ASIC – 19 November 2015 – The EU was accepted by ASIC following concerns about significant and repeated failures to comply with the disclosure conditions of ASIC exemptions relied upon by the J.P. Morgan entities.  The ASIC exemptions provide relief to the J.P. Morgan entities from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence (AFSL).  More...

Collective effort helps millions of Australians build financial literacy skills
ASIC – 19 November 2015 – The released National Financial Literacy Strategy Annual Highlights Report for 2014-15 provides a national picture of the collective impact of financial literacy initiatives delivered by ASIC and a wide range of organisations across the government, education, industry and community.  More...

FSC-Perpetual Australian Investment Managers Cross-Border Flows Report for 2015
FSC – 17 November 2015 – Launched on 17 November 2015, this research examines foreign inflows into Australian managed funds.  It is the only data available on the source of these funds and looks at geographic region, investor type and asset allocation.  The 2015 report is the fourth in the series.  More...

Cases

Salmon v Kinetic Superannuation Ltd & Anor [2015] QDC 287
INSURANCE – ACCIDENT, SICKNESS AND INCOME PROTECTION INSURANCE – CONDITIONS, WARRANTIES AND EXCEPTIONS – TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABLEMENT OR TOTAL INCAPAITY – the application of the Plaintiff is dismissed – where the Plaintiff seeks orders for the appointment of medical specialists for the purposes of expert reporting – where a panel is proposed for each relevant expert – whether it is reasonable for the Defendants to require the Plaintiff to be independently medically examined.  More...

Legislation

Commonwealth

ASIC Corporations (Amendment and Repeal) Instrument 2015/876
This instrument amends the ASIC Class Order [CO 14/1252] to provide industry with greater clarity in disclosing fees and costs for superannuation and managed investment products to promote accurate and consistent disclosure in accordance with the policy of the Regulations. This instrument also provides transitional arrangements in relation to Product Disclosure Statements and periodic statements that were prepared in accordance with Schedule 10 to the Regulations.  This instrument repeals ASIC Class Order [CO 07/337].  Registered: 24 November 2015.  More...

Bills Progress

Crimes Legislation Amendment (Proceeds of Crime and Other Measures) Bill 2015
This Bill amends the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POC Act), Criminal Code Act 1995 (Criminal Code), Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act), and the AusCheck Act 2007 (AusCheck Act).  The Bill contains a range of measures to improve and clarify Commonwealth criminal justice arrangements.  Registered: 26 November 2015.  Introduced HR: 26 November 2015.  More...

Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Trustee Governance) Bill 2015
The Bill outlines amendments to the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, Chapter 2 Regulation impact statement: Schedule 1: Governance arrangements for registrable superannuation entities, and Chapter 3 Governance arrangements for the Board of the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.  Senate – Second reading debate: 25 November 2015.  Second reading agreed to: 25 November 2015.  More...

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