Super Alert – 19 June 2026: APRA letter re geopolitical shock readiness, changes to FAR regime, ASIC expands list of lead generators
Welcome to the weekly KHQ Super Alert. This week APRA published a letter regarding geopolitical shock readiness, released a consultation paper concerning the strengthening of governance practices and, in conjunction with ASIC, announced changes to the FAR regime. Meanwhile ASIC expanded its list of entities which are involved with lead generation and unveiled a new scam prevention initiative.
ASIC expands list of lead generators
On 18 June 2026, ASIC announced that it has named additional entities which are known to be involved in ‘lead generation activities’ as part of its work to ‘address practices that inappropriately or unnecessarily encourage consumers to switch their superannuation’.
Although ASIC states that ‘naming of the entities in this list should not be construed as an indication by ASIC that a contravention of the law has occurred’, it cautions financial advisers and advice licensees to ‘carefully consider whether they are able to comply with their legal obligations if engaging with lead generation businesses or undertaking lead generation activities’.
Click here for details.
APRA letter – industry readiness for geopolitical shocks
On 17 June 2026, APRA issued a letter to its regulated industries stating that ‘APRA is setting clear expectations on how entities should integrate geopolitical risk into governance, risk management and crisis preparedness practices to strengthen readiness for geopolitical shocks’.
Through its ongoing supervision work, APRA found that ‘while many entities are alert to geopolitical risk, there are differing levels of maturity in how this awareness is translated into risk management practices and crisis preparedness’.
APRA expectations include that boards can satisfy themselves that:
- ‘Geopolitical risk is reflected in strategy, risk appetite and Board oversight’;
- ‘Management has identified and is addressing material gaps against the minimum expectations in this letter, with clear accountabilities and timelines’; and
- ‘Management is reporting on financial and non-financial exposures, offshore dependencies and service provider vulnerabilities that could be affected by geopolitical shocks.’
Click here for details.
ASIC announces imposter scam prevention initiative
On 17 June 2026, ASIC announced that as part of its work to reduce scams and protect consumers from financial harm, it is now collecting and publishing the website addresses of AFS licensees on its Professional Registers Search (PRS) function. Licensees are encouraged to provide their details for inclusion on the register.
ASIC states that ‘[i]f a website claiming to belong to an AFS licensee is not listed on the PRS, consumers and businesses should be cautious and should contact the AFS licensee using details from their principal website on the PRS (if available) or conduct further research.’
Click here for details.
APRA and ASIC announce FAR changes
On 16 June 2026, APRA and ASIC announced that they will ‘streamline aspects of the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) to reduce regulatory burden without lowering accountability standards’.
According to the media release, it is proposed that ‘APRA and ASIC will remove key functions requirements from the FAR regulator rules; raise the materiality threshold for notifying APRA and ASIC of changes in accountability; and no longer require information on accountable persons’ direct reports in accountability maps’.
ASIC and APRA aim to implement all changes by the end of 2026.
Click here and here for details.
APRA – Consultation on updated draft Prudential Standard CPS 510 Governance
On 16 June 2026, APRA released a consultation paper setting out updated requirements designed to strengthen governance across regulated industries. It published its response paper to industry feedback and an updated draft of CPS 510 Governance for further consultation.
The updated CPS 510 is intended to provide ‘clearer accountability, stronger oversight and more efficient governance’ through:
- ‘strengthening and modernising requirements for board governance, conflicts management and fitness and propriety of executive and board members’;
- ‘improving organisational efficiency by enabling boards to delegate APRA’s board requirements in other prudential standards and aligning governance requirements with other codes and regimes where appropriate’;
- ‘removing duplicative reporting required under fit and proper, now that Financial Accountability Regime reporting is in place’; and
- ‘harmonising requirements by combining five existing prudential standards into one and setting consistent governance minimums for all APRA-regulated entities.’
It is intended that the new Prudential Standard will apply from 1 January 2028.
The consultation closes on 28 August 2026.
Click here for details.
APRA and ASIC release Superannuation CEO Roundtables
On 15 June 2026, brief notes from two Superannuation CEO Roundtables, held on 8 and 15 April 2026 were published by APRA and ASIC. According to the release, the meetings were attended by ‘12 superannuation Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) representing a broad cross-section of the industry’ and focused on ‘insights from APRA’s inaugural System Risk Stress Test (SRST), alongside broader themes of system-wide risk, operational resilience and regulatory change’.
Through the discussion it was noted that ‘the nature of liquidity pressure may change as the system matures and demographic shifts unfold, including the increasing proportion of members entering retirement’.
‘The operational resilience of material third party service providers was [also] identified as a key amplifier in stress scenarios.’
Click here and here for details.
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