Issued by authority of the Minister for Superannuation
and Corporate Law

Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993

Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 5) Amendment Regulations 2008 (No. 1)

Subsection 353(1) of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (the SIS Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the SIS Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the SIS Act.

The SIS Act provides for the prudent management of superannuation entities. The Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994 (SIS Regulations) are the core regulations considered essential to the operation of the SIS Act.

The purpose of the proposed Regulations is to change the commencement date of certain amendments made by Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Regulations 2007(No. 5) (2007 Amendment Regulations) so they are not retrospective.

The 2007 Amendment Regulations were made on 4 October 2007 and provided that Schedule 1 to those Regulations would commence on the date that the Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Regulation and Review) Act 2007 (Amendment Act) received Royal Assent, which was 24 September 2007. This retrospectivity was unintended for items 13 to 19, of Schedule 1. These items deal with prescribing the period for the requirement to provide the audit report to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), and requiring trustees to notify APRA of a change in trustee.

The proposed Regulations ensure that the date of commencement for items 13 to 19 is 4 October 2007, when the 2007 Amendment Regulations were originally made, so that amendments are not retrospective and therefore do not disadvantage anyone.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

The SIS Act specifies no conditions that need to be met before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

The Regulations are legislative instruments for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

APRA was consulted on the Regulations as the amendments only relate to the change in commencement date.

ATTACHMENT

Details of the proposed Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 5) Amendment Regulations 2008 (No. 1)

Regulation 1 specifies the name of the Regulations as the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 5) Amendment Regulations 2008 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 provides that these Regulations are taken to have commenced on 4 October 2007.

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the 2007 Amendment Regulations.

Schedule 1 Amendments

Items 1 and 2

Item 1 makes a minor consequential change to regulation 2 as a result of the change in commencement date. Item 2 makes amendments to change the commencement date to 4 October 2007, the date the 2007 Amendment Regulations were originally made, for items 13 to 19 in order to correct a retrospective commencement date.