In the media
FOFA wind-back must be shelved following Senate call for
Royal Commission
ISA – 27 June 2014 – The report of the Senate
Committee inquiry into ASIC's handling of the Commonwealth Bank
Financial Planning scandal – which has recommended a Royal
Commission be held into the matter – warrants an immediate
halt to proposed changes to financial advice laws.
More...
Senate recommends Royal Commission
MEDIA – 26 June 2014 – A Senate committee report has
recommended a Royal Commission into a string of advice failures at
CBA dealer group Commonwealth Financial Planning as well as
ASIC's handling of the matter. The commission is the most
notable of the report's 61 recommendations.
More...
ATO encourages employers, self-managed super funds to
prepare for SuperStream
ATO – 26 June 2014 – The ATO is encouraging employers
to prepare for the introduction of SuperStream which will change
the way they make superannuation contributions in the future. In
cooperation with their service provider or default fund, employers
can opt-in to use SuperStream from as early as 1 July 2014.
More...
Retail funds also guilty of "Compare the Pair"
vagueness
MEDIA – 26 June 2014 – BT and ANZ may need to follow
Industry Super Australia (ISA) in clarifying the language of their
superannuation advertising campaigns, following a ruling by the
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) over use of
the term 'average' in reference to super. More...
Open letter to Clive Palmer to help save low income
super scheme
AIST – 25 June 2014 – More than 30 prominent
signatories from the superannuation industry, business, academia,
women's organisations and policy and community groups have
signed an open letter calling on Mr Clive Palmer to help save the
Low Income Superannuation Contribution (LISC) scheme. ABC.net
MediaNet.com.au
ASIC urged to review "orphan"
commissions
MEDIA – 24 June 2014 – Industry Super Australia (ISA)
has urged ASIC to review the government's extension of the
grandfathering rules – particularly when it comes to
"orphan" commissions that it claims are being retained by
product providers.
More...
Listed firms overpaying for underwriting:
ACSI
MEDIA – 24 June 2014 – Companies are paying more in
rights issue underwriting fees than benchmark modelling suggests
they should, a new report has found. An Australian Council of
Superannuation Investors (ACSI) titled Underwriting of Rights
Issues examined 63 underwritten issues conducted by ASX300
companies between 2010 and 2012, and compared the amount they paid
for underwriting against a benchmark value.
More...
Industry Super Australia agrees to change comparative
advertising
ASIC – 24 June 2014 – Industry Super Australia will
change its super choice advertising campaign "Compare the
pair" in response to concerns raised by ASIC.
More...
"Compare the Pair" campaign will continue to
inform consumers about Industry SuperFunds
ISA - 24 June 2014 – Australian consumers will still be able
to "Compare the Pair" to look at the performance of super
funds. Following a co-operative review with the regulator, ASIC,
ISA volunteered to add a spoken as well as written disclaimer, and
make more prominent the details around which retail super funds are
being compared to Industry SuperFunds in the future.
More...
New internal disputes resolution system could stem FOS
disputes
MEDIA – 23 June 2014 – A new internal disputes
resolution system has launched in Australia and it could stop
disagreements reaching FOS, saving the industry substantial sums of
money.
More...
Cormann moves to impose FOFA changes
MEDIA – 20 June 2014 - Announcing the changes today, Cormann
made clear that the Coalition had explicitly supported the
introduction of a statutory best interest duty for financial
advisers and a ban on conflicted remuneration or commissions which
distorted investment advice.
More...
Wind-back of FOFA protections still threatens future of
financial advice industry and older Australians' assets and
income
MEDIA – 20 June 2014 – COTA Australia still fears for
the future of an independent, professional financial advice
industry in Australia after the Federal Government indicated it
will proceed with most of its legislation to water down consumer
protections provided by the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA)
legislation passed by the last parliament. More...
Senate Committee recommends FOFA amendments should
proceed
APH – 20 June 2014 – The Senate Committee reviewing
the amendments to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms has
recommended that the Corporations Amendment (Streamlining of Future
of Financial Advice) Bill 2014 be passed by parliament. The
Committee has recommended greater clarity on the best interest duty
and other related obligations, and the implementation around the
provisions governing conflicted remuneration. See the
Committee's report
here.
Conflicted remuneration should be defined in
law
MEDIA – 18 June 2014 – The SMSF Professionals'
Association of Australia (SPAA) has claimed that explanatory
statements dealing with conflicted remuneration and general advice
would have little effect in practice and need to be addressed via
legislation.
More...
ASIC releases information sheet on super fees and cost
disclosure
MEDIA – 17 June 2014 – ASIC have released an
information sheet on fee and cost disclosure requirements for
superannuation trustees. The requirements are part of the
Government's Stronger Super reforms which start 1 July 2014,
and must be met for both superannuation products and managed
investment schemes.
More...
FOFA: Caveats and loopholes no substitute for ironclad
consumer protections
ISA – 20 June 2014 – Industry Super Australia (ISA)
has called on the government to take the prudent approach and
shelve their plans to reduce consumer protections in financial
advice. The current future of financial advice (FOFA) laws provide:
an ironclad "best interests" test and an iron-clad ban on
kickbacks paid to financial planners.
More...
ASIC extends super fund fee disclosure
MEDIA – 18 June 2014 – ASIC has extended its
facilitative approach for super fund fee and cost requirements to 1
July 2015, ahead of the Stronger Super start date of 1 July 2014.
ASIC released Information Sheet 197 Fee and cost disclosure
requirements for superannuation trustees yesterday.
More...
ASIC releases website disclosure rules
MEDIA – 17 June 2014 – ASIC has released guidance to
assist super funds and their trustees with the disclosure of
information on their websites ahead of the 1 July Stronger Super
start date, under section 29QB of the Supervision Industry
(Supervision) Act 1993.
More...
Corporations Amendment (Streamlining of Future of
Financial Advice) Bill [Provisions] Report 2014
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA – 16 June 2014 – This report
covers FOFA reforms – objectives; best interests duty; scaled
advice; modified best interests obligations; conflicted
remuneration and opt-in requirement and fee disclosure. Dissenting
Report by Labor Senators. Full report- (
PDF 1884KB)
What ASIC expects of directors: speech
ASIC – 24 June 2014 – By Greg Medcraft, Chairman,
Australian Securities and Investments Commission to the Australian
Institute of Company Directors Lunch.
More...
FOFA amendments: Corporations Amendment (Streamlining of
Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2014 [Provisions]
Report
The Senate Economics Committee has recommended that the
Government's Bill to amend FOFA be passed. The committee
recommends that the Explanatory Memorandum include a paragraph that
clearly and unambiguously spells out the best interests obligations
– 961B(1) and (2), 961G, 961J and 961H of the Corporations
Act – and the level of consumer protection they provide.
More...
APRA: Final reporting standards for superannuation
– June 2013
APRA – 20 June 2014 – Each final reporting form and
instructions are provided with the relevant final reporting
standard as a single PDF document. Reporting forms are also
provided in Excel format. See
here.
APRA: FAQs about the reporting framework for
superannuation
APRA – 17 June 2014 – APRA updated its FAQs about the
reporting framework for superannuation.
More...
ASIC: Information Sheet 197 – Fee and cost
disclosure requirements for superannuation trustees
ASIC – 17 June 2014 – This clarifies ASIC's
expectations on the calculation of indirect costs and how
performance and advice fees should be disclosed. (
INFO 197)
More...
Lodgment of statements by superannuation providers in
relation to superannuation plans
Lodgment of statements by superannuation providers in relation to
superannuation plans (other than self managed superannuation funds)
for each financial year ended 30 June in accordance with the
Taxation Administration Act 1953. This instrument describes the
lodgment of Member Contributions Statements. Mor...
Legislation
Commonwealth
Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (Green Army
Programme) Regulation 2014 [SLI 2014 No. 103]
This regulation amends the Superannuation Guarantee
(Administration) Regulations 1993 and the Taxation
Administration Regulations 1976 to ensure that superannuation is
not payable by Green Army service providers to Green Army Programme
participants and prescribes that Green Army allowance payments are
subject to withholding for tax purposes. (Registered 27 June 2014)
More...
ASIC Class Order [CO 14/509]
This class order clarifies the requirement under section 29QB of
the Act that superannuation websites must be kept up to date at all
times. (Registered 26 June 2014 / To Be Ceased 1 October 2024) More...
Bills Progress
Corporations Amendment (Streamlining of Future of
Financial Advice) Bill 2014
House of Representatives, 18 June 2014 Recommendations:
- the Explanatory Memorandum (EM) to the Bill include a paragraph that clearly and unambiguously spells out the best interests obligations – 961B(1) and (2), 961G, 961J and 961H – and the level of consumer protection they provide
- the government consider closely how these separate obligations work together and whether any further strengthening is required to ensure that a provider cannot circumvent these best interests obligations
- the EM make clear that it is not the government's intention to reintroduce commissions.
ASIC Class Order [CO 14/541
This class order exempts RSE licensees from disclosure obligations in section 29QC of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 until 1 July 2015. (Registered 13 June 2014) More...
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