APRA rejects MySuper applications
The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) has rejected approximately six applications for a MySuper licence because of deficient policies or incomplete or incorrect information submitted to the regulator, according to APRA senior manager Gordon Walker.
Speaking at an Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Melbourne lunch, Walker said some super funds had attached policies to the application that in APRA's view were "materially deficient".
Some super funds had failed to provide copies or drafts of each of the policies that they were required to provide previously, Walker said.
Those funds must withdraw their application and restart the process of applying, he said.
APRA had also given feedback on draft policies that hadn't been acted on properly, he said.
Some funds were not completing all the information on the deed of amendment, while others were attaching the wrong documents.
Some super funds have also made administrative mistakes when submitting applications, he said.
However, Walker admitted that APRA "perhaps" could have provided more explicit instructions so funds clearly understood what the instructions meant when applying for a MySuper licence.
Walker warned that super funds needed to read the instructions carefully and do what these instructions said.
Some super funds have made no contact with APRA on applying for a MySuper licence, and the regulator has not seen the number of applications they expected to this month or last month, Walker said.
APRA was contacting those super funds which had not yet applied to see if they were applying and where they were up to, he said.
However, HostPlus chief executive David Ella suggested that some super funds were not applying for a licence because of the areas they derived their revenue from, and the competition that they sought to entertain.
There were organisations which were only interested in the retail elements in superannuation, he said.
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