The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) should postpone finalising its post-implementation review of the new superannuation prudential framework until after the Royal Commission and the findings of the Productivity Commission (PC), according to the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST).
The AIST has suggested APRA conduct a further post-implementation review to take account of the Royal Commission and PC findings.
In a submission filed with APRA dealing with the post-implementation review, the AIST pointed to the activities of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry together with other current inquiries and suggested awaiting an outcoming.
“We recommend that there be a further post implementation review to consider the final report of the Royal Commission into Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services, as well as Productivity Commission reports, other recent APRA reviews, and initial industry feedback,” the submission said, arguing that ‘the role of the standards – as opposed to the guidance – could be strengthened by clarification”.
There needs to be stringent consideration of the issues facing the industry from both an operational perspective as well addressing what is in members’ best interests. These issues go to the heart of the reasons for prudential regulation. The superannuation industry is currently subject to multiple reviews and inquiries some of which deal with matters that are directly relevant to the prudential standards framework. AIST believes that the post-implementation review cannot be meaningfully conducted without the following four key issues being examined and the results included within the review:
• APRA’s own insights.
• New APRA requirements.
• Insights from the substantive reviews which are in train.
• AIST’s Governance Code 2017.
