Issue 585, 16 November 2015
In this issue:
- Section 29QC and fee and cost disclosure—ASIC to defer commencement
- Amendments to unclaimed super and lost member rules introduced into Parliament
- Re-reporting of lost members: due date deferred
- APRA reporting standard on derivatives finalised
- AML/CTF: identification rules amended
- Amendments to Superannuation Guarantee charge introduced into Parliament
Section 29QC and fee and cost disclosure—ASIC to defer commencement
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has informally indicated to ASFA that it is likely to defer the start date for complying with:
- section 29QC of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (the consistency requirement)—until February 2017
- revised Regulatory Guide 97 and the associated Class Order—until February 2017 for product disclosure statements, and until 1 January 2018 for periodic statements.
This is for members’ information only at this stage, as ASIC is yet to make a formal announcement.
Amendments to unclaimed super and lost member rules introduced into Parliament
The Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day 2015) Bill 2015, introduced into Parliament on 12 November 2015, includes two of the amendments to the unclaimed superannuation and lost member rules that were announced in the government’s May 2015 Budget.
The key changes involve:
- enabling the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to pay certain ATO-held superannuation amounts directly to individuals with a terminal medical condition, without first transferring them into an account with a complying superannuation fund. This measure will apply to unclaimed money, claimed lost amounts, shortfall Superannuation Guarantee (SG) amounts and small (ATO-held) superannuation accounts
- removing the requirement for superannuation funds to lodge a six monthly lost members statement with the ATO.
The amendments, which were previously released in draft (see ASFA Action issue 578), are intended to apply from 1 July 2016.
The bill also lays the ground work to allow for the definition of ‘lost member’ to be moved out of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994 into the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Regulations 1999, at a future point in time. At that time, ASFA expects the definition to be revised to reflect specific changes announced in the Budget, including changes to remove the employer sponsored element from the ‘inactive member’ test and recognition of contemporary forms of communication in the ‘uncontactable member’ test. Treasury has undertaken separate consultation on these changes (see ASFA Action issue 581).
Re-reporting of lost members: due date deferred
The ATO has announced that it will be granting a one month deferral of the due date for superannuation funds to lodge their full lost member statement re-report.
This statement, for the period ending 31 December 2015, will now be due on or before 31 May 2016. The statement will be a full re-report of the lost member register. This means that funds must report to the ATO all lost member accounts as at 31 December 2015, not merely those accounts that have become lost during the period or should be removed from the register. The ATO has indicated that no further deferrals of the due date for this lost member re-report will be granted.
The deferral does not affect the due date for reporting and payment of unclaimed superannuation money for the period ended 31 December 2015—this will still be due by 30 April 2016. The ATO has asked funds to ensure that accounts transferred as unclaimed superannuation money prior to 30 April 2016 are reported as transferred on the lost member statement.
The ATO will provide further information and instructions for the re-report in the coming weeks.
APRA reporting standard on derivatives finalised
APRA has registered the final version of reporting standard SRS 534.0 Derivative financial instruments , which will apply for reporting periods ending on or after 1 July 2016.
SRS 534.0 collects information on registrable superannuation entity (RSE) licensees’ directly-held derivatives, including exchange traded and over-the-counter derivatives. The standard was first introduced in 2013, but subsequently deferred and revised in response to concerns that some of the data items may not be able to be reported as originally intended, and that the cost to the industry of reporting the required data was likely to be disproportionately high.
In April 2015, APRA released a revised version of SRS 534.0 for consultation, with the intention that the finalised version of the standard would apply for reporting periods ending on or after 1 January 2016 (see ASFA Action issue 565).
In finalising SRS 534.0, APRA has now further deferred the commencement date so the standard will now apply for reporting periods ending on or after 1 July 2016.
AML/CTF: identification rules amended
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has amended the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Rules Instrument 2007 (No. 1) to align recently introduced customer due diligence (CDD) requirements with existing exemptions in relation to customer identification.
New CDD rules, which took effect on 1 June 2014, include procedures for collecting and verifying information in relation to ‘beneficial owners’ and ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEPs).
In their original form, these CDD rules applied regardless of a number of existing rules that exempted entities from carrying out customer identification processes in relation to some types of designated services, or in certain prescribed circumstances. It was identified that this could lead to an anomalous situation where entities were exempt from rules about identifying and verifying customers, but were still obliged to identify and verify beneficial owners and PEPs.
AUSTRAC has now made the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Amendment Instrument 2015 (No. 2), which extends the application of the existing exemptions relating to identification and verification of customers, so that they also apply to beneficial owners and PEPs. As relevant to superannuation, these exemptions include the following designated services:
- accepting the purchase price for a pension
- accepting a contribution or rollover
- cashing out certain low value balances (not more than $1,000)
- cashing out certain balances as ‘departing Australia superannuation payments’.
The amendments commenced on 12 November 2015.
Amendments to SG charge introduced into Parliament
The Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day 2015) Bill 2015, introduced into Parliament on 12 November 2015, includes amendments to simplify the SG charge and make the SG charge and penalty more proportionate to an employer’s non-compliance.
The proposed amendments were previously released in draft (see ASFA Action issue 578). The key changes involve:
- aligning the earnings base for calculating the SG charge (currently salary or wages) with the earnings base for calculating SG contributions (ordinary time earnings)
- aligning the interest component on any SG shortfall with the period over which the contributions are actually outstanding
- removing the additional penalties that can apply if an employer refuses or fails to provide an SG statement or other information when required, and replacing them with the general administrative penalties that apply under the Taxation Administration Act 1953.
The amendments are proposed to apply from 1 July 2016.