The problem of illegal early release from self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) has improved significantly over the past two years and no longer warrants special Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Funding (AML/CTF) attention.
That is the bottom line of a submission to Treasury from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) dealing with rollovers to SMSFs.
It said that, in general, it believed the problem of illegal early release from SMSFs had improved significantly over the past two years, with the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission having taken substantial steps in developing better registration systems and more effective pursuit of illegal early access "so as to now render the incidence of illegal early release through a promoter lead activity to be rare".
The ASFA submission said that for these reasons, it now questioned whether the proposal to create a new AML/CTF designated service for rollovers to SMSFs to be the best way to address early release schemes.
"Including a new designated service will have major implications for trustees of Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)-regulated funds at a time when trustees have so much else on their plate," it said.
The ASFA submission said if the Government was convinced that illegal early release from SMSFs was still an issue of the magnitude it was years ago, it should seek to utilise the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act).
"A distinct advantage of such a move would be to corral the law for rollovers within the confines of SIS and APRA, as opposed to adding a separate AML/CTF requirement," it said.
