The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has revealed the total number of registered tax financial advisers stands at around 19,000 following the 31 January renewal deadline.

Treating binding death benefit nominations (BDBN) as a mere formality when commencing a superannuation account can lead to financial services licensees cutting corners, but this is not an endemic issue in the industry, according to a legal expert.

SuperCentral has revealed its bulk conversion program and online SMSF services that support advisers in achieving seamless compliance have experienced strong take-up in the marketplace.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has put the financial advice sector on notice after finding issues with advisers failing to correctly witness binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) forms for super benefits.

The SMSF specialist adviser designation will not mean anything unless an adviser has completed other pieces of education under new educational requirements and professional standards for financial advisers, according to BT.

The SMSF Association believes legislative restrictions effectively compel Australians with an SMSF and who are temporarily living overseas to switch to an Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)-regulated fund while out of the country.

Trustees must undertake reasonable steps to ensure an SMSF’s assets and investments can be valued fairly and objectively ahead of adding them to the fund, a technical expert has warned.

Acquiring shares from employee share schemes (ESS) in an SMSF can be attractive for many reasons, but SMSF trustees have to be mindful of the in-house asset and the related-party acquisition rules.