FSC welcomes Budget approach to funds management

The Financial Services Council (FSC) was the first organisation to support the the Government’s delivery of what it called a “no surprises Budget”.

FSC chief executive, Blake Briggs said his organisation “congratulate the Treasurer for focusing on cost-of-living challenges facing Australians and delivering stability and certainty for the financial services industry in advance of the federal election.”

“The Budget continues a multi-year focus on improving the funds management tax regime and integrity of the superannuation system, including:

*Measures to clarify arrangements for managed investment trusts, to ensure legitimate investors can continue to access concessional withholding tax rates in Australia; and

* $50 million over three years to extend the Tax Integrity Program to enable the ATO to ensure timely payment of superannuation liabilities by Australian businesses.

“As one of the largest contributors to the domestic economy, this continued fine tuning of the financial services framework is welcome, however there remains significant opportunity for the next parliament to refocus on economic growth and regulatory simplification opportunities to grow the economy.

“The FSC has recommended policy proposals that would increase financial services exports by almost $2 billion a year and lift the sector’s productivity by $800 million a year through a combination of reducing regulatory costs, lowering fees and investing in new markets.”

Amongst these include committing to forming a red tape razor gang responsible for slashing inefficient regulation, simplifying the breach reporting regime, providing a level playing field under the foreign investment framework, allowing for the rationalisation of legacy superannuation and managed investment products and the introduction of a product labelling regime for sustainable and responsible investments.