Following questioning by senator Andrew Bragg in a recent hearing of the parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services, ASIC submitted a response on notice around the progress of Report 529, which proposed to focus on the role of employers in super.
“We understand the senator is referring to the Employers and Superannuation Project, flagged in ASIC Report 529 (the Project),” ASIC said.
“ASIC decided not to release a public report on the Project primarily because the demands of other work forced the superannuation team to narrow the Project’s scope.”
The regulator said it had released significant detail into the investigation’s findings through other means, including its submissions to the royal commission’s super hearings and input into law reform of section 68A of the SIS Act, which prohibits trustees from using goods or services to influence employers to nominate a default super fund.
The issue of super fund inducements to employers was raised at the royal commission, which heard industry fund Hostplus had spent around $260,000 on Australian Open tickets for 120 employers, as well as $40,000 on AFL tickets, some of which were also distributed to employer representatives.
During the inquiry’s super hearing, Hostplus chief executive David Elia had conceded that “the battle is all about retention of default super fund status” among large funds in the super sector, but maintained the fund’s employer hospitality efforts were “done for the right purposes”.
ASIC said it had also released an information sheet in mid-2019 reminding trustees that “using improper inducements to influence employers in their choice of default fund is illegal”, as well as distributing communications to payroll, transaction and business software industry groups and bodies.
Surprise surprise
Why wasn’t HostPlus hung out to dry for its fee for no service to its members????? Hello ASIC and Commissioner Hayne?????? …..crickets in the background.
How long can the Government stand by and allow this?
I have emailed Jane Hume requesting the issue of this report and would suggest others do too.
Gee, who would have thought. ASIC are so close to industry funds there is no need for a DNA test
$260k on tickets to the Australian Open! I’ll bet a fair wager the guests were union officials.
How does that work with FASEA ethics, for either ASIC or Industry Funds? Certainly we are forbidden to do such a thing under FASEA, and yet ASIC s turning a blind eye to this rort???
WTAF ASIC, do your job, stop being a lecherous scumbag.
Heck – whats this ‘the demands of other work forced the superannuation team to narrow the Project’s scope”. Sounds more like lets help our mates otherwise, we won;t get any more tickets.!!
Anyone who has worked in an audit role will know there are ALWAYS multiple on your time and resources, and it appears here that the report was ready but they decided to shelve it instead of issuing it.
And if this was a financial planner offering inducements for referrals or to gain or retain clients, we would be banned and possibly in jail!
OMG what more proof is needed, ASIC IS CORRUPT!!!!!!!!!!!!
It really is ok. It was all done for the right purposes.
move along…nothing to see here
I can only imagine the controversy if this had occurred with a retail fund. Clearly not a level playing field. ASIC choose their witch hunts carefully.
ASIC admits that its illegal to do, but refuses to do anything about it because it impacts their union fund buddies. As it has always been with ASIC one set of rules for the union funds and a set of much harsher rules for everyone else, which are closely enforced. Time for a royal commission into ASIC’s relationship with the union funds.
ASIC is essentially “to busy” to have a go at an industry fund over high level corruption however if a single independant adviser so much as steps out of line on compliance they will be sure to fund time to tear them apart. Well done ASIC.