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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has signaled it will be clamping down on scams arising out of the global financial crisis, including early release superannuation schemes.
The deputy chairman of ASIC, Jeremy Cooper, has noted recent data suggesting a 60 per cent increase in complaints about scams and said the regulator’s role was to identify and try and shut them down.
He said a key area being examined by ASIC was illegal early access to superannuation and claimed that these schemes seemed to generally affect less sophisticated investors.
“Often people realise that they can’t access their super early, but might be induced to in hard times or after recent unemployment,” Cooper said.
He said the real problem for people who get caught up in such schemes is that they will not be eligible for compensation and may be subject to tax penalties.
