National Australia Bank (NAB) has resolved one set of regulatory issues with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) but still remain in legal dispute with the regulator.
ASIC has confirmed that NAB’s superannuation trustee, NULIS Nominees (Australia) Limited had met additional license conditions imposed on it as a result of a pattern of breach notifications during 2015 and 2016 consistent with an Independent Expert Summary Report prepared by KPMG.
KPMG had been retained as an independent expert to assess and report on the adequacy of NULIS compliance and risk management practices for its retail and wrap superannuation funds.
It said that NULIS had accepted all of KPMG’s recommendations and reported to ASIC this month that it had implemented the recommended changes to policies and procedures covering governance and reporting lines, product redesign, training, risk management and managing conflicts of interest”.
ASIC said NULIS had now met the requirements of the additional license conditions but added that ASIC remained in engaged with NULIS has it sought to improve its operations and address the recommendations made by the Royal Commission.
“ASIC is also currently taking legal proceedings against NULIS,” the statement said. It said those proceedings had been initiated in September last year and related to a significant number of superannuation members who had been charged fees for no service.
The future of superannuation policy remains uncertain, with further reforms potentially on the horizon as the Albanese government seeks to curb the use of superannuation as a bequest vehicle.
Superannuation funds will have two options for charging fees for the advice provided by the new class of adviser.
The proposed reforms have been described as a key step towards delivering better products and retirement experiences for members, with many noting financial advice remains the “urgent missing piece” of the puzzle.
APRA’s latest data has revealed that superannuation funds spent $1.3 billion on advice fees, with the vast majority sent to external financial advisers.