Many of the disclosure requirements imposed on superannuation funds have become a millstone that have not achieved their original objectives, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).
In a submission to the Productivity Commission’s annual review of regulatory burdens on business, ASFA said that while it was satisfied that superannuation regulations had been optimised to protect members’ interests and benefits, it also believed there were a number of areas in which the current regulatory regime needed to be reviewed.
Looking at disclosure, the submission said that it had become a millstone and had not achieved many of its objectives, particularly with respect to the transfer of Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act, which had “arguably been counterproductive for the superannuation industry and has involved super funds in excessive compliance costs”.
The submission then went on to list other examples of what it described as “deadweight compliance costs” including paper-based communications, particularly annual reports, the amount of resources required to undertake the annual Australian Prudential Regulation Authority reporting process, breach reporting across all regulators and complex contribution rules.
The ASFA submission also pointed to tax and prudential law inconsistency.
The two funds have announced the signing of a non-binding MOU to explore a potential merger.
The board must shift its focus from managing inflation to stimulating the economy with the trimmed mean inflation figure edging closer to the 2.5 per cent target, economists have said.
ASIC chair Joe Longo says superannuation trustees must do more to protect members from misconduct and high-risk schemes.
Super fund mergers are rising, but poor planning during successor fund transfers has left members and employers exposed to serious risks.