Industry superannuation fund group, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), has directly questioned whether self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) will be appropriately contributing to the cost of regulatory supervision via supervisory levies.
The AIST has used a submission responding to the Government’s levy proposals for 2016/17 to strongly criticise the lack of detail and to urge greater transparency with respect to a range of issues including the status of SMSFs, the user-pays funding model being pursued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and other elements of cost-recovery.
In fact, the submission argued that the levy proposals were inconsistent with Government guidelines on financial impacts and cost-recovery.
The submission said that while the AIST welcomed consultation on proposed financial levies for 2016/17, the AIST was “once again concerned that insufficient detail renders the proposal as non-compliant with the Government’s Cost Recovery Guidelines and Charging Framework”.
“AIST calls for proposed levies papers to attach Cost Recovery Impact Statements and the outcomes of the Regulator Performance Framework from all regulators (even if in draft),” the submission said.
“While not raised in the proposal, AIST firmly believes implementation of an ASIC user-pays model should not occur without further consultation. We seek information as to how the additional approximately $120 million funding to ASIC will be raised,” it said.
The AIST submission then went on to point to absence of other detailed information, stated that the Proposed Levies Paper provided sparse information, “and does not provide sufficient information regarding whether all who gain benefits from the system should contribute to the levies, e.g. self-managed superannuation funds”.
It also pointed to the $35.5 million figure placed on cost recovery of SuperStream costs, noting that “the Proposed Levies Paper provides sparse information, and also does not include a significant block of the superannuation sector, which gains use from SuperStream — self-managed superannuation funds”.
