ASIC has extended the transition period for Regulatory Guide 97, which lays down new rules for the way fees and costs must be disclosed to investors.
The regime was set to begin for super funds and responsible entities of fund managers on 1 February 2017, with the industry currently in a transition period.
However, the transition period will now be extended until 1 October for product issuers who notify ASIC in writing by 31 January 2017 that they intend to take advantage of the extension.
“We encourage issuers to adopt the updated requirements as early as possible to provide greater transparency to consumers about their fees and costs, noting that the information for each product provided to ASIC will not be published in a manner that would identify the issuer of each product,” said the regulator in a statement.
“ASIC has extended the transition period in response to applications from industry associations which had raised concerns that information provided for some products by an earlier date may not be reliable and may not assist consumers in comparing fees and costs.”
Financial Services Council (FSC) chief executive Sally Loane welcomed the announcement of the extension of the transition period, describing it as a “pragmatic decision”.
“It is important consumers have access to the most accurate fee information to inform their investment decisions,” Ms Loane said.
“The FSC has campaigned for this extension to allow product providers time to present the required data in a uniform way and facilitate better like-for-like product comparison, as the regulations have always intended.”
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