ASIC has urged superannuation fund trustees to provide proper disclosure of merger activities to members.

"In circumstance of a merger, where members may be transferred between funds, our interest is in ensuring that members are adequately informed about the changes and what these changes may mean for them," ASIC investment managers and superannuation senior executive leader Gerard Fitzpatrick said in a letter to trustees.

The regulator expects trustees to inform members of a merger as a significant event and provide transferring members with product disclosure statements (PDS) to explain the product that the member will hold following the merger.

Trustees might also need to amend their PDS for prospective members of the current fund, explaining that the merger would take place in the future, ASIC said.

The letter should not be seen as an indication that ASIC has concerns about previous transactions.

"We're trying to be pre-emptive in this space; we don't have any concerns in this space," Fitzpatrick told InvestorDaily.

"We just wanted to use this opportunity to remind trustees of their obligations so we don't end up with any compliance issues further down the line.

"But there is activity going on with the CGT (capital gains tax) deadline being extended."

Treasury announced earlier this month that it would extend the CGT rollover relief for merging super funds by three months.

Penalties for providing inadequate disclosure to members include a fine of $22,000, imprisonment for two years or both.

"We are not saying that we are necessarily chasing people in that sense. What we are saying is that people should be thinking more about what their obligations are to their members," Fitzpatrick said.

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) said the letter formed a timely reminder to trustees of the importance of member interests when mergers were being considered.

But the institute also pointed out the letter reflected the complexity of the merger process.

"It also recognises that mergers take a great deal of time and care and shouldn't be rushed, though this is difficult in an environment where CGT relief is only extended until September this year," AIST chief executive Fiona Reynolds said yesterday.
 
"This is one of the reasons that AIST has argued that CGT relief should be in place until at least after the introduction of MySuper on 1 July 2013."