In this edition:
Government and Regulator Interaction
Over the month of November, the ASFA Secretariat had several meetings with Regulators and Treasury.
The Secretariat and the Tax Specialist Advisory Committee met with the Inspector-General of Taxation, Ms Karen Payne to discuss matters including the ATO’s approach to Streamlined Assurance Reviews of superannuation funds.
The Secretariat and the IDR Working Group also met with senior representatives from ASIC to discuss ASIC’s recent surveillance of IDR compliance, observations from the first 12 months of application of the new IDR requirements, and preparations for the upcoming IDR reporting obligations.
The Secretariat met with representatives from the Treasurer’s and Assistant Treasurer’s offices and discussed a range of issues including:
- Objective of super
- Your Future, Your Super review
- Tax/NALE
- SG compliance
- Successor Fund Transfers
- Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) legislation.
The Secretariat wrote to Jane Ecclestone about ASIC’s regulatory relief for superannuation calculators.
Research and submissions
A submission was made to APRA in response to their Discussion Paper on Strategic planning and member outcomes: Proposed enhancements. The submission supports the objective of ensuring the good governance of superannuation funds and continuously improving trustees’ strategic planning to ensure good outcomes for members. The submission highlights the importance of striking the appropriate balance between the benefits delivered through, and the resources expended on, strategic planning, to ensure that the performance of this activity is in the best financial interests of superannuation fund members.
ASFA made a submission to APRA in response to the Modernising the prudential architecture information paper. The submission supports the updating of APRA’s prudential architecture, however, also highlights the importance of ensuring any changes do not have any unintended consequences. The submission calls for APRA to engage with the industry through workshops and discussion groups to address and test future proposals.
ASFA released a research note on the Your Future, Your Super (YFYS) performance test and the impact of excluding certain assets on the results of the test. The research note highlights the challenges for super funds seeking to minimise their exposure to certain assets, say for social or environmental reasons. The note highlights that the timing of a decision to exclude particular asset groups could make the difference between passing and failing the test and lends weight to the need to reform the performance test.
Media
The ASFA Retirement Standard was featured in articles in Investment Magazine, Financial Standard, NT News and The New Daily.
ASFA’s proposed $5 million cap on account balances was featured in articles in the SMH, the IFA, The West Australian, the Brisbane Times, The Australian and the Financial Standard.
ASFA’s feedback to APRA on the enhanced collection of data as part of the member outcomes requirements was featured in an article in Financial Newswire.
ASFA’s super balance detective tool was featured in an article in NT News.
Events and Learning
The ASFA Learning team will be delivering the following workshops in December:
- RG 146 face-to-face workshop, Melbourne: 13 – 14 December
- RG 146 Superannuation Refresher virtual workshop: 15 December
