Charge us what it really costs says ASFA

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has again called for more transparency around the way in which the financial services regulators spend their funding and for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) to pull their regulatory weight.

In a submission to Treasury responding to the APRA Financial Institutions Supervisory Levies (FISL) discussion paper, ASFA called for greater clarity around how industry levies are being determined and how they are being allocated.

ASFA also made clear it wanted particular clarity around who was paying the costs with respect to SuperStream claiming that “the levy amount recovered from APRA‐regulated funds should relate to the SuperStream activity directly attributable to APRA‐regulated funds”, something that was not currently the case.

“This is not currently the case. ASFA has previously noted that SMSFs will benefit from SuperStream through more efficient rollover processes (from other funds), and more efficient mechanisms for receiving contributions from employers who do not have a direct connection with the SMSF trustees,” it said. “As such, ASFA can see no reason why the SMSF levy legislation cannot be amended to allow a SuperStream levy to be applied.
The submission said that ASFA had also noted the benefits of SuperStream to non‐superannuation entities, including employers, noting Australian Taxation Office analysis that employers had reported an overall 70 per cent reduction in the time taken to meet their superannuation obligations.

“ASFA considers that, given the benefits to non‐levied entities such as employers, a portion of the SuperStream component should be met from consolidated revenue,” it said.