Actuarial functions and reporting obligations under the SIS Act - frequently asked question

Is actuarial assistance provided by an RSE actuary an “actuarial function”, that may trigger the reporting obligations contained in s. 130 of the Supervision Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act)? ¹

Yes, APRA considers that actuarial assistance provided by an RSE actuary is an actuarial function, where the actuary provides the assistance in relation to a requirement under the legislative framework, and in doing so obtains sufficient information to assess the financial position of the entity.² In such a case, where the actuary also forms the opinion that the financial position of the entity may be, or may be about to become, unsatisfactory, the reporting obligations contained in s. 130 of the SIS Act will be triggered.³

This conclusion is based on:

• r. 9.03(4) of the SIS Regulations, which extends the scope of an “actuarial function” under s. 130 of the SIS Act to include an RSE actuary obtaining information in the course of performing a function for an entity under the SIS Act or SIS Regulations, where that information is sufficient to enable the actuary to assess the entity’s financial position; and
   
• APRA’s view that a prudent RSE actuary would proceed on the basis that r. 9.03(4) also extends to functions performed by an RSE actuary in relation to a requirement under the prudential standards and under FSCODA, given that the prudential standards are made under the SIS Act and an RSE licensee has an obligation to comply with “RSE licensee law”, which includes the FSCODA.

Footnotes

¹ “Actuarial assistance” encompasses tasks that may be performed by an RSE actuary even though such tasks are not required to be carried out by an RSE actuary under the legislative framework, e.g. completing quarterly reporting requirements for vested benefits coverage and monitoring the entity’s shortfall limit.

² For the purposes of this FAQ, the legislative framework includes the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act), the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994 (SIS Regulations), the superannuation prudential standards made under the SIS Act and the superannuation reporting standards made under the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (FSCODA).

³ The reporting obligations will be triggered subject to s. 130(2A) of the SIS Act which provides that an RSE actuary does not have to tell APRA or the RSE licensee about the matter if another person (to whom s. 130 applies) has already told APRA or the RSE licensee about the matter, and the RSE actuary has no reason to disbelieve the other person.