Welcome to the latest issue of the KHQ Super Alert. This week, regulations to support the portfolio holdings disclosure rules were registered and ASIC published guidance for advisers in relation to records of advice. APRA updated its FAQs in relation to the Superannuation Data Transformation project and also issued a media release encouraging super members to more actively engage with their superannuation.
Legislation – Portfolio holdings disclosure regulations
On 11 November 2021, the Corporations Amendment (Portfolio Holdings Disclosure) Regulations 2021 (Regulations) were registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. These regulations amend the Corporations Regulations 2001 (Cth) ‘to provide how information made publicly available under the portfolio holdings disclose regime is to be organised’. In an associated media release, Senator Jane Hume and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg explain that ‘funds will be required to first report their holdings by 31 March 2022, with portfolio holdings disclosure to occur every six months thereafter. The Government will closely monitor these disclosures and consider further refinements where necessary’.
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ASIC – 2020/21 Cost Recovery Implementation Statement released
On 11 November 2021, ASIC issued a media release to inform industry participants that it had released its ‘Cost Recovery Implementation Statement’ for the 2020/21 financial year (Statement). The Statement ‘details ASIC’s estimated levies by industry sector and subsector’. ASIC has indicated that the ‘actual levies will be published in December 2021 and invoiced in January 2022’.
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APRA – Super members urged to prioritise their own best financial interests
On 10 November 2021, APRA issued a media release encouraging superannuation members to ‘prioritise their own best financial interests’. APRA ‘is urging superannuation members – especially those whose MySuper products failed the recent performance test – to more actively engage with their super to maximise their retirement futures’, as newly obtained data ‘shows only a small proportion of members of the products that failed the test have moved their savings elsewhere’.
The media release follows the results of APRA’s inaugural MySuper product performance test, discussed in our Super Alert of 3 September 2021, which found that 13 of the 76 MySuper products assessed failed to meet the required benchmark.
Those 13 failed MySuper products ‘were forced to write to members notifying them of the result’. However, APRA indicates that ‘[from] the one million member accounts’ that were notified of their account’s inferior performance ‘fewer than 68,000 have been closed’. This ‘accounts for 7 per cent of total accounts in the failed products, or only 4.2 per cent ($2.2 billion) of assets’.
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ASIC – Guidance in relation to records of advice
On 5 November 2021, ASIC issued a media release informing industry that it had ‘released an information sheet on records of advice (ROA) and three ROA examples’ to ‘assist industry participants in providing good-quality, affordable personal advice to consumers’. According to ASIC, ‘INFO 266 FAQs: Records of Advice answers frequently asked questions (FAQs) about ROAs, including questions about their usage, preparation and record keeping’, while ‘[the] ROA examples … are annotated to help advisers understand the relevant requirements under the Corporations Act 2001’.
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APRA – Additional FAQs on the Superannuation Data Transformation published
On 4 November 2021, APRA published four new frequently asked questions (FAQs) and updated two existing FAQs in relation to the ‘reporting standards for Phase 1 of the Superannuation Data Transformation (SDT) project’.
The four new FAQs are:
- ‘How should an RSE licensee submit reporting forms where there is no data to report on that form in relation to an RSE?’;
- ‘Where can an RSE licensee access information on the interpretation of trustee-directed products?’;
- ‘What needs to be reported where an investment option with multiple asset classes does not have any strategic asset allocation benchmarks?’; and
- ‘What inception date should be … used when an investment option is determined to be a trustee-directed product (TDP) at the reporting date, however it would not be classified as a TDP at inception?’.
General FAQ 1.02 was updated ‘to clarify reporting due dates, including for historical information required under three of the new prudential standards’ and General FAQ 1.12 was updated ‘to clarify reporting expectations for PSTs’.
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