The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has appointed Darren McShane, a former Hong Kong pensions regulator, to conduct a review of fee and costs disclosure in the country’s superannuation scheme and other investments.
The review follows the pledge made by the ASIC earlier this year to have an external expert examine its approach to disclosing fees and costs.
The primary objective of the review, which will launch in December, is to ensure that Australia’s rules and regulatory guidance will, in practice, meet the objective of improving fee and cost transparency for consumers. The review will focus on the value of fee and cost information for consumer decisionmaking, the extent to which it helps investors compare products, and the practicalities and costs of producing the disclosure, the ASIC says in a news release.
During the review, the ASIC will solicit industry input; McShane will meet with service providers, representatives of both industry and retail funds.
McShane has extensive experience in the superannuation and managed investments industry and until recently was chief regulation and policy officer and executive director of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority in Hong Kong, where he led the development of the regulation of the Hong Kong pensions system.
The review is expected to be finished by the end of the first half of 2018, and a public report will be released once the review is complete.
The ASIC “expects that funds will endeavour to comply with the current legal requirements in good faith and not mislead consumers about fees and costs,” the regulator says, adding it “will continue to monitor disclosure to consumers.”
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