SUPERANNUATION – AUSTRALIA – REGULATION

Super rollover plan for SMSFs

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 26 : 27-Apr-18

Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer is expected to announce that self-managed superannuation funds will be able to increase the number of members from four to six under new legislation. Members of SMSFs will also be allowed to roll over funds from an Australian Prudential Regulation Authority-regulated super fund using the SuperStream technology; currently, rollovers through SuperStream are only allowed from one APRA-regulated fund to another. more than 1.1 million Australians have SMSFs, which currently boast around $A700 billion worth of assets.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Superannuation funds should not be secret societies

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 23 : 20-Nov-17

All Australians would hopefully agree with the notion that money within a superannuation fund belongs to its members, not to a union or an employer. They would also agree that fund trustees are responsible to their members and not to unions or employer groups, and that any payments made by funds to unions or employer groups be disclosed, along with the reasons for the payments. Legislation to enforce these notions is currently before federal parliament, and it is concerning to hear that unions and employer groups are protesting against its passage.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Government must keep its hands off super: Keating

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 14-Nov-17

Former treasurer Peter Costello recently suggested that a government-run fund could be set up to look after default superannuation contributions. However, this idea does not have the support of former prime minister Paul Keating, who initiated compulsory superannuation. He says this would amount to a monopoly which the Liberal Party would want to eventually sell off to the private sector. The Productivity Commission is currently investigating the best way forward for determining how default super contributions should be allocated.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Watchdog backflips on super disclosure

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 22 : 27-Oct-17

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has delayed the introduction of parts of its new fee disclosure rules for superannuation funds. ASIC has concluded that more work needs to be done on two elements of the rules, namely the treatment of investment platforms, and costs in relation to property investments. ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft said the rules as they had been originally proposed could have led to inconsistent treatment of asset classes, resulting in a less than "level playing field".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

SMSF costs to blow out as $1.6m cap bites

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 17-Oct-17

Accountants involved in providing services to self-managed superannuation funds have called on the federal government to take a more lenient approach to new transfer balance rules. The government has imposed a $A1.6 million cap on tax-free balances, but it is requiring all SMSFs to report on their account activity, regardless of the size of their balance. The average SMSF balance for someone who is 60 and close to retirement is just $A285,000; accountants suggest only those SMSFs with a balance of more than $A1 million should have to report account activity under the new laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED

Heat on unions’ super cash

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 11-Sep-17

The Federal Government will introduce legislation to increase the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s powers to force superannuation funds to disclose their payments to unions. The reforms will also allow fund members to be informed as to how their super contributions are being invested or redirected to unions or employers’ groups. It is estimated that super funds paid more than $A8m to unions in the form of "sponsorship" payments in 2016, with Cbus accounting for more than $A1m of these payments.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, PLUMBING TRADES EMPLOYEES UNION, TWUSUPER, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, UNITED VOICE, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Super non-payment drops to $2.8 billion, says ATO

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 29-Aug-17

The Australian Taxation Office estimates that workers are missing out on around $A2.85 billion worth of superannuation payments each year. The ATO contends that the gap between what workers should receive under the superannuation guarantee rules and what they have actually received is due to factors such as unscrupulous employers and firms going into liquidation. Its figure is significantly lower than the $A5.6 billion estimated by Industry Super Australia. The Senate Economics Committee recently called for greater fines for employers found not to be complying with superannuation guarantee rules.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Super reforms blasted for favouring banks

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 14-Aug-17

Industry Super Australia contends that proposed superannuation legislation favours retail funds at the expense of those that ISA represents. ISA is of the view that the legislation will impose less scrutiny on bank-owned funds than not-for-profit funds, even though it states that the latter sector has outperformed bank-owned funds in recent years. ISA also contends that the proposed legislation will increase compliance costs and is in conflict with the Corporations Act.

CORPORATES
INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Bosses face super gap crackdown

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 14-Jul-17

The Australian Government will take legislative action to close a loophole that allows companies to reduce compulsory superannuation contributions if the worker has opted to make voluntary contributions via salary-sacrificing. At present employers can legally pay less than 9.5 per cent of an employee’s salary into their super fund by basing it on the worker’s post-sacrificing wage. The reform is one of several recommendations of a report that was jointly produced by several regulatory agencies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN

Competition ‘is not appropriate for super’

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 11-Jul-17

Australia’s retail superannuation funds argue that fees would be lower and there would be more product innovative if there was increased competition in the default super sector. Nicholas Barr, the professor of public economics at the London School of Economics, argues against allowing more competition in the case of complex financial products, as many consumers lack the time or skills to fully assess such products and decide which is most suitable for them.

CORPORATES
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA