Super funds will be required to submit audited financial reports within three months of the end of the fund’s financial year with fees incurred for late lodgement under new rules governed by ASIC.
The regime commenced from the start of the current financial year and the deadline for most funds to submit reports will be 30 September 2024.
The requirements fall under the Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 4) Act 2023, extending the financial reporting and auditing obligations under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act 2001.
Reports must include the financial statements and notes, directors’ declaration, auditor’s report and director’s report containing remuneration disclosure.
ASIC has created an electronic transaction to accept lodgement of reports. ASIC has worked with APRA to create a single lodgement point trustees to submit both compliance reports and audited financial reports at the same time. Once lodged, audited financial reports will be publicly available on ASIC’s website.
In a media release, ASIC this new obligation aims to encourage more transparency and accountability by requiring trustees to make financial reports publicly available and by giving the regulator the power to enforce compliance with the accounting and auditing standards.
Trustees will be under increased scrutiny regarding the quality of their financial reports. If there are significant deficiencies in disclosure or possible misstatements picked up by ASIC’s program, the fund will be subjected to a financial reporting surveillance.
Auditors will also be subject to increased scrutiny on the quality of their audit work.