The Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law’s speech to IFSA highlighted the following:
- The Government plans to ensure that mortgages and investment loans will
be regulated under uniform national legislation and that mortgage
brokers, non-ADI and ADI lenders will be subject to nationally
consistent licensing, conduct and advice provisions. - the Government is still considering submissions on the introduction of a product rationalisation mechanism. This would
help move customers out of outdated managed investment products and
into modern ones. - The Financial Services Working Group is charged with cutting lengthy and unreadable documents in the financial services sector. It will examine disclosure documentation in a staged process. As a
first step, it is exploring the development of a concise Product
Disclosure Statement for our newly announced First Home Saver Accounts. The Working Group is also examining the issue of ‘within product’
or ‘intra-product’ advice in regard to superannuation products. The
group will identify current obstacles to this advice. - the Government will pursue a legislative change to the Corporations Act to
address an ambiguity around covered short selling and disclosure to ensure that the current disclosure requirements apply to such covered short sales. - the exploration of the possibility of a mutual recognition of securities regulation arrangement between USA and Australia
- the growing number of people on the superannuation lost members register
- some SMSF trustees are not as aware of their legal obligations as they should be
- superannuation lump sum payments are tax free when paid to persons
suffering from a terminal medical condition from 1 July 2007. - the development of the new First Home Saver Account
