APRA/ASIC ‘engage’ super funds over adviser relationships


The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has confirmed that a number of superannuation funds have been “engaged” over payments to third parties such as financial advisers.
The regulator revealed the engagement as part of its outline of its supervisory priorities for 2020, noting that it was area of joint supervisory focus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
It said that during 2019 both APRA and ASIC had required all trustees to review the robustness of their existing governance and assurance arrangements for fees charged to members’ superannuation accounts.
“APRA and ASIC are engaging with individual trustees on the outcomes of their reviews, ensuring that trustees have credible plans for addressing identified weaknesses in a timely manner,” APRA said. “Industry-level findings will be made public in the first half of 2020.”
APRA said conflicts of interest was another key area of supervisory focus for it in 2020 and that it had begun an “in-depth review of selected large trustees’ management of outsourcing providers, focusing on related party arrangements and managing conflicts of interest”.
Recommended for you
Net cash flow on AMP’s platforms saw a substantial jump in the last quarter to $740 million, while its new digital advice offering boosted flows to superannuation and investment.
Insignia Financial has provided an update on the status of its private equity bidders as an initial six-week due diligence period comes to an end.
A judge has detailed how individuals lent as much as $1.1 million each to former financial adviser Anthony Del Vecchio, only learning when they contacted his employer that nothing had ever been invested.
Having rejected the possibility of an IPO, Mason Stevens’ CEO details why the wealth platform went down the PE route and how it intends to accelerate its growth ambitions in financial advice.