Superannuation funds should be provided with a breakdown of which areas of the industry are proving most problematic for the regulators, according to the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST).
In a submission filed with the Treasury in response to the proposed Financial Institutions Supervisory Levies, the AIST has echoed the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) in calling for greater transparency around how the levies are actually being spent.
“AIST strongly recommends that any risk-based approach to levy raising should take into account the volume of regulator activities spent on various entities and sectors,” the submission said. “We continue to maintain this position and believe that any Cost Recovery Impact Statement (CRIS) and the outcomes of the regulator performance framework should contain this information.”
The AIST argued that, currently, there was no breakdown of which sectors within a superannuation system worth over $2 trillion were causing greater regulatory focus.
“Regulator comments have been made that organisational cultures and remuneration structures do drive outcomes,” it said. “The collection of such data and the consequent raising of levies is important to both protecting members and ensuring regulator accountability and efficiency.”
“AIST recommends that such data could be collected and classified using the APRA categories (not-for-profit and retail, etc).”
Our biggest problem is getting data from brokers, share registries and banks. We have the platform to automate all the data and reduce year-end tax return and audit fees. We would like to see the fees on the way down, especially for SMSF’s where the trustees are pensioners.