The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) have joined together to clarify their different and combined roles in dealing with MySuper products.
In a letter to superannuation funds jointly signed by ASIC commissioner Greg Tanzer and APRA member Helen Rowell, the two regulators have acknowledged some duplication in the reporting required of superannuation funds in the context of the comparability of MySuper products under Section 29QC of the a Superannuation Industry Supervision Act (SIS Act).
The section requires that if a superannuation fund provides information calculated in a particular way to APRA under a reporting standard and the fund gives the same or equivalent information to another person, including on a website, then it has to ensure that this information is calculated in the same way as the information given to APRA.
The change is meant to improve the comparability of information about superannuation products, but superannuation funds have expressed concern about inconsistent information being provided through multiple channels.
The ASIC and APRA letter acknowledged that, given the compulsory nature of superannuation, it is appropriate that super funds “do everything they reasonably can to ensure there is adequate transparency and to support improved comparability”.
The letter makes clear that the funds need to communicate to members the same information they communicate to APRA in a particular way, but information they communicate in excess of that given to APRA need not be communicated in the same way.
The letter makes clear that ASIC’s area of focus will be aspects of asset allocation and return information.
