Opposition puts heat on industry super fund watchdogs

The Federal Opposition is maintaining pressure on Australia's two financial services regulators, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), to reveal how they are handling the activities of industry superannuation funds.

In what Money Management understands to be a reflection of the concern held by key Coalition parliamentarians about the amount of influence being wielded by some senior Labor Party/union officials, the regulators have been asked a series of questions on notice going to the heart of how they handle industry funds.

Much of the activity directed towards the regulators has been generated by Tasmanian Liberal Senator David Bushby, but the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Senator Mathias Cormann, has also raised the issues during Senate Estimates.

In a series of questions on notice directed to APRA, Bushby has asked how many enforcement actions the regulator has undertaken in the last three years "in relation to flawed unit pricing and asset valuation practices in superannuation funds".

"And without naming the entities concerned, what were the outcomes for each [fines, court action, disqualifications, asset freeze, enforcement undertakings etc]?" Bushby said.

Bushby has also asked how many formal and informal actions APRA has taken in relation to unresolved conflict of interest issues in relation to superannuation fund governance during the past three years, and what were the results of taking such action.

The Tasmanian has also asked APRA about its policy on superannuation fund directors who hold multiple directorships in the super fund sector, and inquired about the number of occasions on which the regulator has raised the issue with a fund which had a director in such a position, and with what results.

With ASIC already having been placed on notice to explain whether the recent rash of industry superannuation fund television advertisements are compliant, Money Management understands its approach to the advertising campaign will be subject to further questioning and scrutiny in Parliamentary committees.