A busy month for governance policy in the superannuation industry will be followed by an even busier quarter, with several important governance standards due for release or consultation.
More disclosure of executive remuneration in key industry funds could also feature.
On 19 September, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released a consultation paper that outlined its proposed revised reporting requirements for APRA-regulated superannuation funds.
The main proposals include more data collection about the fund and its investment returns, and expanded information about investments to identify and understand asset allocation and costs.
Consultation on the draft reporting requirements closes on 16 November, with final reporting standards expected to be released in the first half of 2013 and take effect on 1 July next year.
APRA is proposing a significant increase in data collection for the superannuation industry, which suggests funds should play an active role in the consultation process to get their point across.
Not to be outdone, the Financial Services Council (FSC) on 27 August released its draft standard for governance of superannuation funds.
It was developed from the FSC's much-needed Superannuation Corporate Governance Policy, which set a new benchmark for superannuation industry governance in Australia when it was released in March.
The five key requirements of the draft standard are: a majority of independent directors; an independent chairperson; preventing multiple, competing directorships; disclosure of an environmental, social, governance risk-management policy; and disclosure of proxy voting records. None of these are required under APRA's proposed prudential standards for superannuation.
Several of the proposed changes would bring superannuation funds in line with aspects of the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations.
FSC chief executive John Brogden said in a media release: "The draft standard builds upon APRA's prudential standards and delivers on our commitment to develop a higher mandatory benchmark for FSC superannuation providers."
The FSC requires feedback before 22 October, with final standards expected to be issued in December. The projected start date for the policy is 1 July 2013.
Newspaper reports this month also suggested three of Australia's largest superannuation funds - AustralianSuper, SunSuper and Hostplus - would follow the lead of Cbus and increase their disclosure of executive pay.
Insufficient disclosure of pay for executive teams and directors has been a recurring criticism of some industry superannuation funds this year.
Superannuation trustees will have to consider all of these changes on top of the new requirements for MySuper, the Future of Financial Advice reforms and the implementation of Super Stream.
It is no wonder the voices for a delay in implementation of these reforms are growing stronger.
