DBFO still ambiguous AIOFP members told
Financial advisers have been warned that there is sufficient continuing ambiguity within the DBFO legislation for the regulators to impact advice fees paid out of member superannuation accounts.
The Association of Independently Owned Financial Planners (AIOFP) has provided its members with a legal analysis which states that the while the Government dropped the contentious section 99FA it still falls short of overcoming ambiguity.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Friday acknowledged royal assent of the Treasury Laws Amendments (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 (DBFO Act).
It said that over coming months it would be upgrading regulatory guidance impacted by the DBFO legislation
The opinion, provided by the chair of the AIOFP Technical Services Committee, Lionel Rodriques, prompted AIOFP executive director, Peter Johnston, to suggest that the dropping of s99FA represented a step in the right direction “but not enough to materially change ‘statutory clarity’ for our industry”.
The opinion provided by Rodriques said that the ambiguity arose because the Explanatory Memorandum attaching to the legislation states that a trustee “may continue to utilise robust risk based assurance processes”.
“This suggests that the role of trustees to continue to monitor the appropriateness of financial advice in relation to the ‘member’s interest in the fund’,” he said whilst stating “it should be noted that commentary in the Explanatory Memorandum is not binding at law, nevertheless it is considered persuasive in the context of the legislation”.
“Confusion is compounded by the position of ASIC. Whilst dated 9 May 2024, ASIC Media Release (24-094MR) announced “ASIC calls on super trustees to improve gate keeping of member’s savings”. There are no changes in the amended s99FA SIS, for the regulator to change its position,” Rodriques said.
I’m quite curious as to how much money has gone from super funds member retirement savings to the CFMEU?
If any, will there be an investigation into that?
First Super, which has just $4 billion in funds under management and five directors from the CFMEU, paid $3.8 million to unions that year.
he Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has been asked to get to the bottom of why industry fund FIRST Super has made four $700,000 payments to (CFMEU).
https://financialnewswire.com.au/superannuation/apra-asked-to-investigate-2-8m-super-payment-to-cfmeu/
Wow – surely there must be an investigation into this. It’s a big pot of money. Members of these funds should have confidence their retirement savings are used properly.
Meet our Board of Directors | First Super
There seems to be a lot of work history in forest, timber and furniture industries for both member and employer reps. Any idea why?