Welcome to this week’s issue of the KHQ Super Alert. APRA has given an update of its regulatory activities and the Federal Government announced that relief to facilitate electronic execution of documents will remain until next year.
APRA – Ongoing activities
On 5 August 2020, Wayne Byres, Chair of APRA, appeared before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics in Canberra. In his opening statement, Mr Byres explained the various measures APRA has taken since the onset of COVID-19 to suspend its policy initiatives and decrease the ‘operational burden on the industry’. Mr Byres also set out the status of a few recommendations from the Royal Commission, including:
- amendments to SPS 250 ‘to strengthen requirements in relation to related party life insurance arrangements, and the rules by which particular status is attributed to an insured member’ – now expected to be finalised in the first half of 2021; and
- strengthening APRA’s regulation and supervision of remuneration (ie, CPS 511) – now expected to be finalised in mid-2021.
Click here for details.
Federal Government – extension of temporary electronic execution rules
On 31 July 2020, the Treasurer announced that the temporary relief in the Corporations (Coronavirus Economic Response) Determination (No. 1) 2020 will be extended to expire on 21 March 2021. This instrument amends section 127 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to ‘give certainty that when company officers sign a document electronically (including an electronic document), the document has been validly executed’. The instrument was originally due to expire in November 2020.
Click here for details.
ATO – Updated SuperMatch terms and conditions
On 5 August 2020, the ATO issued alert CRT 040/2020 advising that it had updated ‘the terms and conditions of use and user guide’ for its SuperMatch service. According to the ATO, the key changes are:
- ‘Customer verification must be undertaken [by the trustee] prior to SuperMatch being used – the terms and conditions of use and user guide outline:
- minimum level of customer verification required for both document and electronic based verification;
- when this customer verification renewal is required;
- an interim approach that can be used while funds move to implement the full required changes.’
- ‘Further clarity on ensuring only trustees access SuperMatch and are accountable for any use of the service by their administrator/service provider on their behalf.’
- ‘Ongoing obligations for trustees to ensure their connections remain complaint [sic] and periodically attest to that.’
Given that the SuperMatch service is currently ‘disconnected’, the ATO has advised that ‘each trustee will have to engage with the ATO and provide requisite information and evidence to demonstrate their compliance with the new terms and conditions of use and user guide before their connection [to SuperMatch] is established’.
Click here and here for details.
