Superannuation funds lagging on rollover changes
The pace of the Government's legislative changes has again caused concern in the financial services industry, with the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) warning that some super funds will struggle to meet new requirements around rollover benefit statements (RBS).
In complaints reminiscent of industry concerns around the transition to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) changes, the ASFA submission points to a number of funds being unable to meet the deadline for the changes because they do not currently collect the information required.
The changes have implications for financial planners involved in rolling over super balances for clients.
In a submission lodged with the Australian Taxation Office, ASFA has pointed to the increased information funds will need to provide, but warns it has concerns "about the ability of many in the industry to meet the new requirements from 1 July, 2012".
"By way of example, two large superannuation providers have advised ASFA that a 1 July 2012 implementation date is not possible, particularly given that this document is only a draft and that the final form will not be available until mid-June," the ASFA submission said.
"One fund noted that industry consultation commenced in February 2012, the month in which its July 2012 IT release was signed off," it said.
Pointing to the timetable and the changing requirements, the ASFA submission said that it was concerned that the ATO was only now exposing a more detailed draft of the rollover benefit statement to all super providers, administrators, software providers and other representatives.
"A more specific concern is that the changes to the RBS include new fields for data for which there is no current legal requirement for a fund to record or hold, and for which funds have no legislative detail to facilitate the systems design," it said.
"Additionally, there is no advice in the draft material as to how and when these changes will feed through to the Rollover Data Standard".
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