Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 26 of 2012
Certain information provided by specified superannuation entities under Reporting Standard SRS 100.0 used by APRA to calculate and publish the calculated 30 June rate of return
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Prepared by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act), s 57
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 26 of 2012 (this Determination), was made under section 57 of the APRA Act on 13 December 2012.
This Determination relates to information contained in reporting documents provided to APRA by 17 specified superannuation entities under Reporting Standard SRS 100.0 (2005) and the predecessor reporting standards, solely to the extent that this information is used by APRA to calculate the rate of return as at 30 June[1] (the calculated 30 June ROR) for those entities and to publish it in APRA’s publication Superannuation Fund-Level Rates of Return (the ROR Publication).
- Background
Subsection 56(5C) of the APRA Act provides that it is not an offence under s 56(2) of that Act (APRA’s secrecy provision) to disclose information in a reporting document given to APRA under s 13 of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (Collection of Data Act) where APRA has determined, under s 57, that the document does not contain confidential information.
Section 57 of the APRA Act gives APRA the power to determine whether a document given under s 13 of the Collection of Data Act contains confidential information. The section provides that before doing so, APRA must give relevant entities or bodies, or their representative association, a reasonable opportunity to make representations as to whether information of the kind contained in the document is confidential, and APRA must take such representations into account (the consultation undertaken is discussed below).
2. Purpose of the instrument
The purpose of this Determination is to enable APRA to disclose by way of publication in the ROR publication, the calculated 30 June ROR for the 17 specified entities, each of which has a non 30 June balance date (the specified entities).
APRA proposes to publish the calculated 30 June ROR to assist in consistent comparison between superannuation entities whose data is reported in the ROR publication.
3. Operation of the instrument
This Determination provides that certain information (described below) given to APRA by the 17 specified entities under Reporting Standard SRS 100.0 (2005) Statement of Financial Performance made under Financial Sector (Collection of Data) determination No. 46 of 2005, or any prior reporting standard of the same name and number, made under s 13 of the Collection of Data Act (the Reporting Standard) is non-confidential solely to the extent that the information is used by APRA to calculate and publish in the ROR publication, the calculated 30 June ROR for the specified entities.
This Determination applies solely to the information provided to APRA by the specified entities under reporting form SRF 100.0 under the Reporting Standard (the Quarterly Return), for reporting periods ending on or after 30 June 2005 and before 1 August 2012 (the relevant reporting periods), which are received by APRA before the date of this Determination and used by APRA to calculate and publish in the ROR publication, the calculated 30 June ROR for the specified superannuation entities, but excludes the following items of information:
- personal information, within the meaning of the Privacy Act 1988;
- information reported in a reporting document for a superannuation entity or institution that is a pooled superannuation trust, within the meaning of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993;
- all items of information other than those used by APRA to calculate the calculated 30 June ROR; and
- all items of information used by APRA to calculate the calculated 30 June ROR except to the extent that the calculated 30 June ROR is published by APRA in the ROR publication.
The calculated 30 June ROR is calculated using information in the Quarterly Return and in reporting form SRF 200.0 under Reporting Standard SRS 200.0 Statement of Financial Performance made under Financial Sector (Collection of Data) determination No. 51 of 2005 (the Annual Return) for the relevant reporting periods, using the ROR methodology set out below.
Information for the relevant reporting periods contained in the Annual Return was included in the information made non-confidential by Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 11 of 2009 (varied by Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 16 of 2009), Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No 1 of 2010, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No 4 of 2010, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No 2 of 2011, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No 2 of 2012 and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No 27 of 2012 [2].
ROR methodology
The rate of return (ROR) represents the net earnings of superannuation assets towards funding members’ benefits, primarily for retirement. The ROR measures the combined earnings of a superannuation fund’s assets across all its products and investment options.
ROR is calculated as:
ROR = Net earnings after tax
Cash flow adjusted net assets
For superannuation funds with a non-30 June balance date, the calculated 30 June ROR is calculated using annual (SRF 200,0) and quarterly (SRF 100.0) return data.
It is important to note that net earnings after tax and net flows data is reported on a year to date (YTD) basis in the quarterly returns. Additionally, the beginning net assets are taken from the net assets at the end of the previous reporting period (SRF 100.0 Item 23 + SRF 100.0, Item 23.1) as reported in the quarterly return for the period end 30 June of the previous financial year.
Below is an example of how the ROR at 30 June 2012 will be calculated for a fund with a 31 December balance date:
Balance date
31
December
Net earnings after tax
(YTD 30 June)
Annual return for period end 31
December 2011
less
Quarterly return YTD
data to 30 Jun 2011
plus
Quarterly return YTD
data to 30 June 2012
Beginning net assets for period end 30
June 2011
Net assets at the end of the reporting period as reported in the quarterly return for
period end 30 Jun 2011
(SRF 100.0, item 23 + SRF 100.0, item 23.1).
Net flows
(YTD 30 June)
Annual return for period end 31
December 2011
less
Quarterly return YTD
data to 30 Jun 2011
plus
Quarterly return YTD
data to 30 Jun 2012
The diagram below is a graphical representation of the methodology used to calculate YTD
data. This example shows how YTD data to 30 June 2012 is calculated for a fund with a 31
December balance date.
4. Consultation
Prior to the first ROR publication in 2009, APRA released the discussion paper Fund level disclosure from the APRA Superannuation statistics collection on 20 November 2008. The discussion paper outlined the issues and questions to be resolved in creating an annual superannuation fund-level publication and sought comments and suggestions on the data items to be included (i.e., a reference table and also compilation tables).
On 14 May 2009, APRA also issued a consultation letter to the 263 trustees of the relevant superannuation entities and 16 other parties (including industry bodies and professional associations), concerning the then proposed Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 11 of 2009.
Nineteen submissions were received by APRA in response to the consultation carried out in 2009. The submissions were made by trustees as well as industry bodies and service providers (such as custodians).
APRA, after consideration of the submissions, modified the scope of its proposed determination of non-confidentiality to exclude the following items of information:
- information reported about a PST; and
- personal information, within the meaning of the Privacy Act.
Following the first ROR publication, APRA received representations from trustees and industry associations to the effect that publication of the annual rate of return for funds with a non-30 June balance date did not provide a basis for consistent comparison between those funds and funds with a 30 June balance date. APRA subsequently published the calculated 30 June ROR for the specified entities in its next ROR publication in March 2010 and proposes to continue to publish calculated 30 June ROR for funds with a non-30 June balance date.
On 24 February 2010, APRA issued a consultation letter to the trustees of the 18 superannuation entities specified in this Determination. The letter advised that APRA proposed to calculate the 30 June ROR from information contained in the Quarterly Return and in the Annual Return and to publish it in the next ROR publication. The letter disclosed the method of calculation and APRA’s proposal to make this Determination. The consultation period closed on 10 March 2010. No submissions were received.
Statement of compatibility prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
The legislative instrument the subject of this explanatory statement does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. Accordingly, in APRA’s assessment, this legislative instrument is compatible with human rights.
[1] In the case of one specified entity, The Victorian Independent Schools Superannuation fund, the calculated 30 June ROR is calculated as at 31 July, using the ROR methodology described in section 3 below. This entity has a 31 January balance date.
[2] Each of these determinations applied to reporting documents received by APRA on or before the date of each determination respectively.