Following closely on the Federal Government announcement that
MySuper products will be able to be offered from 1 July 2013 and
will be required to be offered as the default option from 1 October
2013, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
(APRA) has released its discussion paper on the
Prudential Standards for Superannuation.
The key change from a trustee's point of view is that APRA
is to be given the power to make Prudential Standards that have
statutory force. It is likely that the powers will be along the
lines of those set out in the Life Insurance Act and Insurance Act.
In Part IIIA of the Insurance Act, for example, APRA may make
Prudential Standards. Part IIIA imposes a statutory obligation on a
general insurer to comply with the Prudential Standards and there
are reporting obligations for breaches of those standards with the
failure to report a breach an offence.
