Major financial services company AXA has told the Parliamentary Inquiry into the structure and operation of the superannuation industry that Australia should move to a single financial services regulator.
In a wide-ranging submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry, AXA said there was significant scope for reducing the cost of compliance without reducing its effectiveness and that a starting point could be a review of the dual regulation of superannuation by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
It said the dual licensing requirements imposed on public offer superannuation funds were good examples of areas where cost savings could be made.
The submission said that while, in theory, there was no overlap in the regulatory roles of APRA and ASIC in relation to superannuation, the reality was very different.
It said the longer term solution to the issue was to move to a single regulator of financial services, combining the roles currently undertaken by APRA and ASIC.
“In the medium term, greater differentiation of the roles and responsibilities of the two regulators and a reduction in the amount of dual regulation would be helpful,” the AXA submission said.
