MySuper applications rejected, says APRA

The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) has rejected approximately six MySuper licence applications due to deficient policies or incomplete or incorrect information, according to APRA senior manager Gordon Walker.

Speaking at an Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Melbourne lunch, Walker said some super funds had attached policies to the application that in APRA's view were "materially deficient".

Some super funds had failed to provide copies or drafts of each of the policies that they were required to provide previously, Walker said.

Funds that had been rejected must withdraw their application and re-apply, he said.

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Some of APRA's feedback on draft policies had not been acted on properly, Walker said.

Some funds were not completing all the information on the deed of amendment, while others were attaching the wrong documents.

Administrative mistakes were the cause behind some funds' deficient licence applications, he said.

Walker conceded, however, that APRA "perhaps" could have provided more explicit instructions so that trustees clearly understood what the licence instructions meant when applying.

He warned that super funds needed to read the instructions carefully and comply.

The regulator has not seen the number of applications it expected to this month or last month, Walker said, and some super funds had made no contact with APRA on applying for a MySuper licence.

APRA was contacting super fund trustees that had not yet applied in order to check on their progress and confirm if an application was on the way, he said.

However, HostPlus chief executive David Ella suggested that some super funds were not applying for a licence because of the areas they derived their revenue from, and the competition that they sought to entertain.

There were organisations which were only interested in the retail elements in superannuation, he said.