Welcome to the first issue of the KHQ Super Alert for the new financial year! This week APRA asked trustees of defined benefits funds for feedback about the impact of choice of fund changes and a new ASIC instrument was registered in relation to superannuation retirement calculators.
APRA – Review of SG Act amendments for DB funds
On 30 June 2022, APRA issued a letter to trustees of defined benefit funds seeking ‘their input on the amendments to the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (SGAA), [which] commenced in September 2020’ relating to choice of fund changes. APRA has explained that it is required ‘to conduct a review to identify any unintended consequences of the amendments to the SGAA on the operation of DB schemes’ and to ‘consider whether any amendments are necessary to rectify any unintended consequences identified by the review’.
APRA has asked a series of questions to the relevant trustees. The submission period closes on 8 September 2022.
Click here for details.
Legislation – Supervisory levies determined
On 30 June 2022, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Supervisory Levies Determination 2022 was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. This determination ‘ensures the recovery of APRA’s costs, and the costs incurred in connection with supporting the integrity and efficiency of markets and promoting the interests of consumers in the financial system, from industries that are prudentially regulated by APRA’.
Click here for details.
Legislation – Superannuation retirement calculators
On 30 June 2022, the ASIC Corporations (Superannuation Calculators and Retirement Estimates) Instrument 2022/603 was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. The instrument continues the relief which was previously contained in ASIC Class Order [CO 11/1227] Relief for providers of retirement estimates and ASIC Corporations (Generic Calculators) Instrument 2016/207.
As referred to in our Super Alert of 19 November 2021, ASIC consulted with industry stakeholders in relation to improving superannuation retirement calculators. The Explanatory Statement explains that:
- a ‘single legislative instrument for superannuation forecasts promotes a consistent approach to setting default economic and financial assumptions, as well as other requirements of the relief, including disclosure and reporting of non-compliance for superannuation forecasts’; and
- ‘[u]nder previous relief arrangements, some trustees may have been applying significantly different default assumptions to their superannuation calculators to those that they were required to use in working out retirement estimates. This could have resulted in materially different forecasts, which may have been potentially confusing for members’.
Click here for details.
ASIC – Submissions open in relation to international sustainability disclosures
On 29 June 2022, ASIC issued a media release encouraging ‘submissions to the International Sustainability Standards Board consultation on global baseline climate and sustainability disclosures’. The proposed standards were referred to in ASIC’s recent guidance to trustees about avoiding ‘greenwashing’ when offering or promoting sustainability-related products (see our Super Alert of 17 June 2022).
Click here for details.
ATO – Updates to online materials
On 28 June and 29 June 2022 respectively, the ATO updated its online guidance in relation to:
- ‘Downsizer contributions age changes from 1 July 2022’; and
- ‘Transfer balance cap reporting’.
Click here and here for details.
AUSTRAC – Quarterly newsletter published
On 27 June 2022, AUSTRAC published issue seven of its quarterly newsletter ‘AUSTRAC InBrief’. In this quarter’s newsletter, the main news item relevant to trustees is AUSTRAC’s updated guidance on reporting threshold transaction reports.
Click here for details.
Treasury – Quality of advice review
Treasury has published the 113 non-confidential submissions received in relation to its consultation seeking feedback on financial advice for retail clients. The consultation period closed on 3 June 2022 and these submissions will be used to prepare the final report to Government by 16 December 2022.
Click here for details.
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