Legal And Compliance Leaders Caution Superannuation Funds Post Royal Commission
Last week AIST hosted their ‘Legal and Compliance Ideas Exchange’ event in Melbourne. The ramifications for superannuation funds post the royal commission and the changing climate of investments by superannuation funds were discussed throughout the day.
One of the themes coming out of round five of the royal commission was that some bank owned retail superannuation funds have been prepared to change key regulations to suit the banks and adversely penalise members.
Key areas of misconduct by retail funds pertaining to corporate hospitality, credit card expenditure, overcharging some members for insurance, fees for no service, slow processes in transferring members to low-fee accounts and a reluctance to provide refunds for inappropriate fees were all noted by the commission.
On the other hand, industry funds got through largely unscathed. With no real penalties for trustees who fail the sole purpose test, it does raise a question as to whether regulators need to tweak the law here.
Kaye Wheatley Brown, Compliance Manager at Legal Super, chaired a panel that addressed the challenges and changes superannuation funds will have to make to their governance frameworks post the royal commission.
There was a common theme addressed by key speakers on the panel, Sean Hill KPMG and Ailsa Goodwin AIST, that the industry as a whole must not get complacent from a compliance and governance perspective and that superannuation funds can always do more to bolster and strengthen their governance and compliance programs so as to avoid any potential misconduct similar to what was uncovered by the commission across the banking industry.
The changing climate of investments within the superannuation industry and the impact this has had on managing internal and external stakeholders was also addressed with a panel made up of the following industry leaders:
- Robert Green – Associate General Counsel at Telstra Super (Chair)
- Hanna Lee – Head of Investment, Legal at Sunsuper
- Stephen Roseman – Head of Investments Legal at UniSuper
- Belinda Dent – Senior Legal Counsel, First State Super
The event was very insightful and it was great to meet with industry leaders to hear their thoughts relating to compliance issues affecting the superannuation industry.
Regards
Matt McGilton
Matt McGilton – Director
Kaizen Recruitment specialises financial services recruitment across funds management, wealth management, superannuation, investment consulting and insurance. We are based in Melbourne and Sydney. For assistance or further information please telephone our office at +61 3 9095 7157 or submit an online form.
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