Welcome to the latest issue of the KHQ Super Alert. There are only a few items to report on this week including the release of further superannuation statistics, new frequently asked questions for the Superannuation Data Transformation Project and updated frequently asked questions about the member outcomes assessment – all from APRA.
APRA – Quarterly superannuation statistics
On 8 February 2024, APRA released the quarterly superannuation product statistics for the quarter ending September 2023. According to APRA, this ‘publication lists all superannuation products offered by each APRA-regulated superannuation fund…[and] also contains granular information on fees and costs, investment performance, investment strategy and asset allocation for a range of products and investment options’.
Click here for details.
APRA – Updated SDT and outcomes assessment FAQs
On 5 February 2024, APRA issued a media release advising that four new frequently asked questions (FAQs) in relation to its Superannuation Data Transformation Project have been released. These questions are:
- ‘How does APRA expect RSE licensees to report claims that have been re-opened in SRS 251.0?’;
- ‘How does APRA expect RSE licensees to report payroll tax on SRS 332.0?’
- ‘How does APRA expect RSE licensees to report executive remuneration and director remuneration on SRS 332.0?’; and
- ‘Can APRA clarify how RSE licensees should report member accounts on SRF 606.1 when the fees and costs arrangement has been closed during the reporting period?’.
Six existing FAQs in relation to the annual outcomes assessment under section 52(9) of the SIS Act have also been updated. The updates were made to the following questions:
- ‘Are RSE licensees required to consider their performance test result in their annual outcomes assessment?’;
- ‘How should RSE licensees use APRA’s heatmap publication in undertaking the outcomes assessment?’;
- ‘Does the RSE licensee need to send the member outcomes summary to the RSE’s members?’;
- ‘Which 12 month period should an RSE licensee use for their outcomes assessment?’
- ‘How should RSE licensees approach the assessment of choice products, given such products are comprised of multiple investment options from which a member selects?’; and
- ‘What methodology should the RSE licensee use to complete the outcomes assessment?’.
Click here for details.
APRA – Delay in guidance materials for FAR in banking
On 5 February 2024, APRA and ASIC issued a joint letter to the banking industry advising that there will be a delay in finalising the Minister Rules, Regulator Rules, Transitional Rules and reporting form instructions for the Financial Accountability Regime. FAR is set to commence on 15 March 2024 in the banking industry, however the regulators have acknowledged that without this additional guidance, ‘industry may require additional time, beyond the commencement date, to finalise compliance with the new FAR requirements’.
Superannuation trustees hoping to consider the banking industry guidance in arranging their own preparations for FAR will now need to wait for its delayed release.
Click here for details.
Legislation – Several financial services related instruments registered
On 1 February 2024, the Taxation Administration (Meaning of End Benefit) Instrument 2024 was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation which relates to the taxation of family law superannuation payments. As referred to in our Super Alert of 15 December 2023, a Treasury consultation was undertaken in early December relating to the remake of the 2013 instrument of the same name.
The Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) (Permanent Incapacity Benefits) Rules 2024 were registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on the same day. According to the explanatory statement, section 301-100 of the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 ‘is a transitional arrangement that applies for income years up to and including the 2021-22 income year’ and the purpose of the new instrument ‘is to continue [those] arrangements…for an additional 12 months to include the 2022-23 income year’. This provision ‘applies to certain recipients of permanent incapacity benefits who had previously had their superannuation benefits assessed on the basis that they were a superannuation lump sum, and this assessment was first made before’ the Federal Court’s decision in Commissioner of Taxation v Douglas [2020] FCAFC 220.
Click here and here for details.
Legislation – Amendments made to AFCA rules
On 31 January 2024, the AFCA Scheme Amendment (2024 Measures No. 1) Authorisation 2024 was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. The instrument inserts a new clause 9A into the AFCA Scheme Authorisation 2018 which sets out that AFCA does not need to decide a complaint if certain elements apply to a complaint (eg, the conduct relates to dealing in a financial product that the financial firm was not authorised to deal in and the financial firm may not have money to pay any compensation to the complainant).
Click here for details.
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