In the media
SCT determination a reminder on trustee
obligations
MEDIA – 8 December 2016 – A recent determination of the
Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) has acted
as a reminder to fund trustees of their obligation to pursue an
insurance claim for the benefit of a beneficiary, if the claim has
a reasonable prospect of success.
ASIC releases new instrument for non-monetary consideration
managed investment schemes
ASIC – 8 December 2016 – Following public consultation,
ASIC has released a new legislative instrument on interests not for
money schemes, replacing three class orders on show schemes,
interests not for money schemes and film investment schemes that
were due to expire ('sunset').
ASIC Report 505 Response to submissions on CP 266 Remaking
ASIC class orders on managed investment schemes: Not for
money
ASIC – 8 December 2016 – The report highlights the key
issues that arose out of the submissions received on
Consultation Paper 266 Remaking ASIC class orders on managed
investment schemes: Not for money and details our
responses to those issues.
Super disputes kept aside in Treasury
review
MEDIA – 7 December 2016 – The superannuation industry
backs Treasury's call to retain a separate external dispute
resolution body.
ASIC Report 503 Overview of licensing and professional
registration applications: Jan to Jun 2016
ASIC – 7 December 2016 – The report sets out recent
regulatory outcomes achieved by ASIC in relation to Australian
financial services (AFS) applications, Australian
credit licence applications, liquidator registration applications,
company auditor and approved SMSF auditor registration
applications.
Landmark interim report paves the way for new financial
disputes framework for consumers
TREASURY – 6 December 2016 – The Turnbull Government
welcomed the release today of the Interim Report by the independent
expert panel reviewing the financial system's external dispute
resolution and complaints framework. The Review will prepare the
way for improved resolutions of disputes between consumers and
small businesses and their financial institutions.
FOS welcomes Ramsay Review Interim
Report
FOS – 6 December 2016 – The Financial Ombudsman Service
(FOS) Australia welcomes the interim report into
the review of the financial system's external dispute
resolution (EDR) and complaints framework (the
Ramsay Review).
Interim Ramsay Review report could reshape EDR in super
ASFA – 6 December 2016 – The Association of
Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) today
welcomed the interim report from the review of the financial
system's external dispute resolution (EDR) and
complaints framework.
Unpaid super affecting one in three
members
MEDIA – 6 December 2016 – Close to one third of
Australian employees are not receiving the full superannuation
entitlements they are eligible for, according to Industry Super
Australia.
ASIC concludes monitoring Lionsgate's compliance with
additional conditions
ASIC – 6 December 2016 – ASIC has finished monitoring
Lionsgate Financial Group Pty Ltd (Lionsgate)
following the placement of additional conditions on its Australian
financial services licence.
ASIC surveillance leads Carwardine Financial Services to
review their financial advice business
ASIC – 6 December 2016 – Australian financial services
licence holder Carwardine Financial Services Pty Ltd
(CFS) will undergo an independent external review
of its compliance with the financial services laws, following an
ASIC surveillance that concluded in September 2016.
Review of the financial system external dispute resolution
and complaints framework: interim report
GOVERNMENT – 6 December 2016 – The EDR Review
Panel's Interim Report was informed by submissions received in
response to the Panel's Issues Paper and makes draft
recommendations in a number of policy areas.
One third of Australians short-changed on super, new report
finds
ISA – 5 December 2016 – Around 2.4 million or almost
one third of Australian workers eligible for super are missing out
on some or all of their entitlements, and little is being done
about it, a new report reveals.
Get Super Smart and check your Superannuation
Guarantee
ASFA – 5 December 2016 – The Association of
Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) is urging
Australian workers to check their super guarantee
(SG) payments are accurate and up to date. ASFA
CEO Dr Martin Fahy said a new report on unpaid SG payments, issued
today by Industry Super Australian and Cbus, raised some serious
concerns and highlights the need for employees to check their SG
payments are being made and at the correct amount.
AIST welcomes Senate inquiry to investigate billions of
dollars lost in unpaid super
AIST – 2 December 2016 – AIST has welcomed the
announcement of a Senate Economics References Committee inquiry
into the impact of non-payment of the superannuation guarantee
(SG).
Super trustee fee and cost disclosure requirements
extended
MEDIA – 1 December 2016 – The corporate regulator has
extended the transition period for trustees of superannuation funds
and responsible entities of managed funds and other managed
investment schemes to comply with updated fee and cost disclosure
requirements in relation to product disclosure statements
(PDSs).
ASIC extends transition period for PDS
rules
MEDIA – 1 December 2016 – The corporate regulator has
pushed out the deadline for new PDS fee and cost disclosure
requirements for super funds and responsible entities until 30
September 2017.
FSC: Overwhelming majority of clients have high trust and
satisfaction with their financial planner: University
study
FSC – 1 December 2016 – The overwhelming majority of
financial planning clients (over 80%) have high levels of trust in,
and satisfaction with, their financial planner. That is one of the
key findings of a study, titled 'Funding our future:
Perceptions of the value of financial advice'.
FOS welcomes FCA Report on Financial Counsellors' EDR
experiences
FOS – 30 November 2016 – FOS welcomes the release of
the Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) report
'External Dispute Resolution: Results of a Survey of
Financial Counsellors'.
Draft consultative approach relating to AML/CTF Rules
amendments resulting from the Review of the AML/CTF
Act
GOVERNMENT – 30 November 2016 – AUSTRAC will be
undertaking a staged approach to implementing recommendations from
the Review of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism
Financing Act 2006 and Associated Rules and Regulations.
APRA submissions
APRA – 30 November 2016 – APRA has released its
submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and
Financial Services Inquiry into the life insurance industry.
ASIC extends transition period for PDS
rules
ASIC – 29 November 2016 – ASIC has extended the
transition period for Regulatory Guide 97, which lays down new
rules for the way fees and costs must be disclosed to investors.
The transition period will now be extended until 1 October for
product issuers who notify ASIC in writing by 31 January 2017 that
they intend to take advantage of the extension.
Transition period for updated fee and cost
disclosures
ASIC – 29 November 2016 – ASIC has extended the
transition period for trustees of superannuation funds and
responsible entities of managed funds and other managed investment
schemes (issuers) to comply with updated fee and cost disclosure
requirements in relation to product disclosure statements
(PDSs).
Politics and policy will define super debate in
2017
MEDIA – 28 November 2016 – As superannuation fund
executives wrap up 2016 they may find time to reflect upon a year
in which the Federal Budget contained some of the most dramatic
changes to superannuation policy seen in decades and a raft of
other Government initiatives from Productivity Commission
(PC) inquiries to regulatory resourcing
reviews.
PC super review guidelines on the table
MEDIA – 28 November 2016 – The Productivity Commission
(PC) has released the assessment framework for its
review of the superannuation system's competitiveness and
efficiency.
Cases
The
Queensland Local Government Superannuation Board v Allen
[2016] QCA 325
PROCEDURE – CIVIL PROCEEDINGS IN STATE AND TERRITORY COURTS
– DISCOVERY AND INTERROGATORIES – DISCOVERY AND
INSPECTION OF DOCUMENTS – PRODUCTION AND INSPECTION OF
DOCUMENTS – GROUNDS FOR RESISTING PRODUCTION –
PRIVILEGE – CLIENT LEGAL PRIVILEGE – WAIVER OF
PRIVILEGE – where the applicant is the trustee of a
superannuation scheme – where the applicant refused the
respondent's claim for payment of a total and permanent
disability benefit – where the respondent commenced a
proceeding in the District Court seeking to establish an
entitlement to payment of that benefit – where the respondent
brought an interlocutory application in that proceeding seeking
disclosure of legal advice provided to the applicant –
whether legal professional privilege in the legal advice had been
impliedly waived by the applicant.
Legislation – Commonwealth
Acts
Superannuation (Departing Australia Superannuation Payments Tax)
Amendment Act No. 90 of 2016
Part of a package of four bills in relation to tax arrangements for
working holiday makers, the bill amends the Superannuation
(Departing Australia Superannuation Payments Tax) Act 2007 to
increase the rate of the departing Australia superannuation
payments tax to 95% for working holiday makers. Registered: 7
December 2016.
Superannuation (Excess Transfer Balance Tax) Imposition Act No. 80
of 2016
The bill imposes an excess transfer balance tax on the notional
earnings of capital moved into a retirement phase superannuation
account that is in excess of $1.6 million. Registered: 30 November
2016.
Bills
Superannuation Amendment (PSSAP Membership) Bill
2016
The Superannuation Amendment (PSSAP Membership) Bill 2016
enables certain members of the Public Sector Superannuation
Accumulation Plan (PSSAP) who move to
non-Commonwealth employment to choose to remain a contributory
member of the scheme. Registered: 2 December 2016.
Superannuation (Departing Australia Superannuation Payments Tax)
Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2016
The Superannuation (Departing Australia Superannuation Payments
Tax) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2016 reduces the rate from 95% to
65% for the departing Australia superannuation payments tax that
applies to amounts attributable to superannuation contributions
made while a person was a working holiday maker. Registered 2
December 2016.
Treasury Laws Amendment (Fair and Sustainable
Superannuation) Bill 2016
A Bill amending the law relating to taxation and superannuation.
Introduced with the Superannuation (Excess Transfer Balance
Tax) Imposition Bill 2016, the bill amends: five Acts to
impose a $1.6 million cap on the amount of capital that can be
transferred to the tax-free earnings retirement phase of
superannuation. Assent (Act No 81 of 2016): 29 November 2016.
Regulations
Banking, Insurance, Life Insurance and Superannuation (prudential
standard) determination No. 1 of 2016 – Prudential
Standard CPS 226 Margining and risk mitigation for non-centrally
cleared derivatives
This instrument determines Prudential Standard CPS 226 Margining
and risk mitigation for non-centrally cleared derivatives.
Registered: 7 December 2016.
ASIC Corporations (Repeal) Instrument
2016/1108
This instrument repeals ASIC Class Order [CO 02/0210], ASIC Class
Order [CO 02/0211], and ASIC Class Order [CO 02/0236]. Registered:
2 December 2016.
ASIC Corporations (Managed Investment Schemes: Interests Not For
Money) Instrument 2016/1107
This instrument remakes ASIC Class Order [CO 02/0210], ASIC Class
Order [CO 02/0211], and ASIC Class Order [CO 02/0236] with minor
and technical changes, combining the terms of the three Class
Orders into one legislative instrument. Registered: 2 December
2016.
This publication does not deal with every important topic or change in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you have found this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances please contact one of the named individuals listed.
