Issue 539, 3 June 2014
In this issue:
- ASIC Insights on Super seminars
- Treasury consultation: proposed financial industry levies for 2014/15
- AUSTRAC consultation: draft AML/CTF Rules
- APRA guidance regarding SuperStream and data reporting
- Superannuation Reporting Standard SRS 711.0 SuperStream Benchmarking Measures: deferral of commencement date
- Trustee responsibilities arising from certain Superstream related measures
- Superannuation reporting standards: minor revisions
ASIC Insights on Super seminars
ASIC has announced a national seminar titled Insights on Super, which will be held in mid June 2014.
ASIC will be issuing a range of regulatory materials and relief to assist the industry with the implementation of the superannuation reforms, and invites industry to attend so as to hear about recent developments, emerging trends and issues, as well as ASIC’s priorities in the area.
Sessions will be held at the ASIC offices in both Sydney and Melbourne, with offices in other cities linking in via video conferencing (VC). Sessions will be held on the following dates:
Sydney: Wednesday 11 June, from 9.00am – 12.00pm. Level 5, 100 Market Street
Melbourne: Friday 13 June, from 11.00am – 2.00pm. Level 7, 120 Collins Street
Adelaide: Friday 13 June, from 11.00am – 1.00pm. Level 8, 100 Pirie St (via VC link)
Perth: Friday 13 June from, 11.00am – 2.00 pm. Level 3, 66 St Georges Terrace (via VC link)
Brisbane: Friday 13 June from, 11.00am – 2.00pm. Level 20, 240 Queen St, Brisbane (via VC link)
If you are interested in attending one of the above sessions, please RSVP by Friday 6 June 2014 by emailing your name, organisation, email address and nominated session to Gaby Bayugar at ASIC, or phone 02 9911 2453.
Treasury consultation: proposed financial industry levies for 2014/15
On May 26 2014, Treasury released a consultation paper seeking submissions on the proposed financial institutions supervisory levies that will apply for the 2014/15 financial year.
The levies are set to recover the operational costs of APRA and other specific costs incurred by certain Commonwealth agencies and departments, including ASIC, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and the Department of Human Services.
The paper presents two options for determining the levy payable by an institution in 2014/15. If you have any comments that you would like ASFA to consider including in a submission, please forward them in writing to Julia Stannard by Tuesday 10 June.
AUSTRAC consultation: draft AML/CTF Rules
On 29 May 2014, AUSTRAC released draft rules to amend the electronic safe harbour procedures for customers.
The draft rules flow from recent amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules (AML/CTF Rules) with regard to customer due diligence, which inserted provisions relating to the identification of beneficial owners by reporting entities. These provisions included ‘safe harbour procedures’ that may be applied to beneficial owners who are of medium or lower money-laundering or terrorism-financing risk, and were based upon the existing safe harbour provisions for customers in Chapter 4 of the AML/CTF Rules.
The purpose of the new draft rules is to bring the existing electronic safe harbour procedures for customers into line with the electronic safe harbour procedures for beneficial owners. Consultations close on 26 June 2014.
If you have any comments that you would like ASFA to consider including in a submission, please forward them in writing to Robert Hodge by Thursday 19 June.
APRA guidance regarding SuperStream and data reporting
APRA has recently released some important items of guidance, which are available on the APRA website:
SUPERANNUATION REPORTING STANDARD SRS 711.0 SUPERSTREAM BENCHMARKING MEASURES:
DEFERRAL OF COMMENCEMENT DATE
As mentioned in ASFA Action issue 538, APRA wrote to Registrable Superannuation Entity (RSE) Licensees on 27 May 2014, advising that it is deferring the commencement of SRS 711.0 (Superannuation Reporting Standard SRS 711.0 SuperStream Benchmarking Measures) until 1 July 2015. APRA also advised of its proposal to consult further on the content of SRS 711.0 later in 2014. This follows APRA’s December 2013 letter advising that SRS 711.0 would be effective from 1 July 2014, with reporting of information required for quarters commencing from that date for a period of five years.
The latest deferral follows the 26 May announcement by the Acting Assistant Treasurer that superannuation funds will have until 1 July 2015 to implement the SuperStream contribution data standards.
TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES ARISING FROM CERTAIN SUPERSTREAM RELATED MEASURES
The ATO and APRA issued a joint letter to all RSE Licensees on 28 May 2014, setting out what is expected of licensees and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth and effective implementation of the Superannuation Data and Payment Standards 2012 (the Standard):
Commencement dates
There is a legal requirement that from 1 July 2014, RSEs must have the capability to electronically receive member registration data and contributions. It is expected that from 3 November 2014, most RSEs will be ready to receive contributions in the new SuperStream compliant format.
Where an RSE does not expect to be ready to comply with the Standard by 3 November 2014, the RSE licensee must notify the ATO by 30 September 2014 of its proposed alternative start date, which must be no later than 1 July 2015.
Three-day processing of contributions
RSE licensees are reminded that if an RSE licensee accepts a contribution and receives it in accordance with the Standard, it must be allocated to the respective member’s account within three business days. The regulators recognise that, as the requirement to send or receive error and outcome messages will not commence before 2 February 2015, this may impact on a fund’s ability to process contributions in a timely manner.
Use of the Fund Validation Service
It is a requirement under section34Z of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 that RSE licensees provide certain prescribed information to the ATO for inclusion in the Fund Validation Service.
The ATO has recently written to all RSE licensees setting out obligations to provide additional data. The process for providing this data should be a straightforward exercise, as it will be similar to the process adopted when providing product and bank account details for processing rollovers.
Use of SuperTICK
Another SuperStream requirement is for RSE licensees is to validate member details if an employer sends initial registration information, or a first contribution within three business days of receiving the information.
This can be done using the ATO’s SuperTICK service. Use of SuperTICK is mandatory, unless an employer has contributed to an RSE for a member prior to 1 July 2014. The regulators recognise that until an RSE reaches its alternative start date, the use of SuperTICK may not be fully integrated into an RSE licensee’s processes.
Breach reporting
APRA recognises that compliance with the Standard, in respect of contributions and member registration, is a new obligation, and that practices are likely to evolve over time. While compliance with the standards is encouraged, APRA does not expect failure to comply to be reported as a breach prior to 1 July 2015.
APRA and the ATO encourage engagement with employers and members to let them know of any changes in details, and to keep the ATO and APRA notified of progress and any issues that may arise from standards implementation.
SUPERANNUATION REPORTING STANDARDS: MINOR REVISIONS
On 30 May 2014, APRA wrote to RSE Licensees advising that minor changes have been made to the following five annual and ad-hoc reporting standards:
- Reporting Standard SRS 001.0 Profile and Structure (Baseline)
- Reporting Standard SRS 330.1 Statement of Financial Performance
- Reporting Standard SRS 330.2 Statement of Financial Performance
- Reporting Standard SRS 800.0 Financial Statements
- Reporting Standard SRS 801.0 Investments and Investment Flows.
The changes are summarised in an attachment to the letter, and revised versions of the reporting standards, forms and instructions, have also been released.
Additionally, APRA has reminded RSE licensees that, as outlined in its letter of 21 March 2014, APRA will continue to require lodgment of Reporting Standard SRS 110.1 Selected Disclosure of Investments (SRS 110.1) for periods ending on or after 1 July 2014. This is to prevent data gaps and ensure continuity in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publications until the implementation of the additional ABS data collection, which is proposed to commence in 2016.
Licensees should note that, as the above reporting standards have now been issued as final, the associated frequently asked questions (FAQs) will be archived on the APRA website.
The revised reporting standards take effect as follows:
- from 30 June 2014: SRS 001.0, SRS 330.2, SRS 800.0 and SRS 801.0
- from 1 July 2014:L SRS 110.1 (as continued) and SRS 330.1.
Where necessary, the revisions will be incorporated in the D2A forms, so that RSE licensees will be able to submit data based on the latest versions of the reporting standards.
