Welcome to the latest issue of the KHQ Super Alert. This week, APRA released a discussion paper proposing reforms to SPS 515 and the FAR legislation received Royal Assent. Also, the Crimes Amendment (Corrupt Benefits for Trustees) Bill 2023 (NSW) passed both houses of parliament.
APRA – Proposed reforms to SPS 515
On 21 September 2023, APRA released a discussion paper outlining proposed reforms to Prudential Standard SPS 515 Strategic Planning and Member Outcomes (SPS 515).
According to the media release, the discussion paper titled Strategic and transfer planning: enhancing member outcomes proposes reforms to SPS 515 to:
- ‘ensure expenditure requirements better align with the best financial interest duty and, for the retirement phase, to support the retirement income covenant. Under the reforms, trustees must be able to justify the purpose of expenditure relating to business operations’;
- ‘lift the bar on trustees’ management of financial resources. The draft SPS 515 seeks to ensure trustees maintain a prudent approach in areas such as fee setting and managing member-funded reserves’; and
- ‘improve management of risks to members being transferred across funds’.
APRA has also ‘decided to retire its guidance circular on the sole purpose test’ and has ‘no plans to issue new guidance’.
Consultation on the proposed reforms will end on 21 December 2023.
Click here for details.
Legislation – Bills receive Royal Assent
On 20 September 2023, the following received Royal Assent:
- Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Law Improvement Package No. 1) Bill 2023; and
- Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 3) Bill 2023.
See our Super Alert from 8 September 2023 for details on these pieces of legislation.
Click here and here for details.
ASIC – Financial adviser registration date postponed
On 20 September 2023, ASIC issued a media release announcing that it is extending the date by which financial advisers must be registered to 1 February 2024. The Bill introducing the registration requirement, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 was introduced to Parliament on 16 February 2023 (see our Super Alerts from 17 February 2023 and 9 June 2023) and remains before the Senate.
Click here for details.
Legislation – Family law superannuation amending regulations registered
On 15 September 2023, the Family Law (Superannuation) Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2023 (Amending Regulations) were registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. The Amending Regulations amend the Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2001 (FLS Regulations) to ‘provide greater clarity about the meaning and application of certain terms and provisions’, including to:
- ‘[c]larify the difference between ‘unsplittable interests’ and ‘unsplittable payments’ in the FLS Regulations’;
- ‘[c]larify that a pension that is nominally payable for life, but which may be subject to review to confirm the member spouse’s continuing entitlement, is not precluded for this reason from being a ‘lifetime pension’ or ‘pension payable for the life of the member spouse’ for the purpose of the FLS Regulations’; and
- ‘[e]nsure that pension payments from lifetime pensions are considered splittable payments from the time they become payable’.
Click here for details.
ATO – Unclaimed super and lost member reporting and payments due by 31 October 2023
On 14 September 2023, the ATO updated the ‘Unclaimed super money and lost member reporting due’ webpage to remind entities that unclaimed superannuation and lost member reporting needs to be lodged by 31 October 2023.
Click here for details.
Legislation – Bills receive Royal Assent including FAR
On 14 September 2023, the following legislation received Royal Assent and were subsequently registered on the Federal Register of Legislation:
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Modernising Business Communications and Other Measures) Act 2023;
- Financial Accountability Regime Act 2023; and
- Financial Accountability Regime (Consequential Amendments) Act 2023.
See our Super Alert from 8 September 2023 for details on these pieces of legislation.
Click here, here, and here for details.
NSW Parliament – Legislation passed to resolve NSW Crimes Act issue in SFTs
On 12 September 2023, the Crimes Amendment (Corrupt Benefits for Trustees) Bill 2023 (NSW) passed both houses of the New South Wales Parliament and is awaiting Royal Assent. As mentioned in our Super Alert from 25 August 2023, this Bill seeks to resolve whether section 249E of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) is enlivened when giving and receiving indemnities as part of a successor fund transfer or trustee replacement. There were no amendments to the Bill during its passage through Parliament.
Click here for details.
This alert was written by Kiara Leslie (Lawyer) and Natalie Cambrell (Director).
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