Several industry associations have come together to form the Alliance for a Fairer Retirement System as a direct response to Labor’s proposal to disallow refunds of excess franking credits for a range of retirees and shareholders.

The corporate regulator’s recently completed assessment investigating unlicensed accountants recommending clients set up an SMSF has found no systemic concerns around the provision of unlicensed SMSF advice.

The federal government has announced it will propose to increase the limit on the maximum number of members in an SMSF from four to six. 

The banking royal commission has exposed the inadequacies of the SMSF advice industry, but should result in stronger enforcement of competency standards, an SMSF expert has said.

There is a risk SMSFs will switch from highly franked stocks into highly expensive stocks in response to Labor’s excess dividend imputation credits proposal and if they are failing to receive appropriate advice.

Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen has confirmed more significant changes to the nation’s retirement savings framework will occur, in addition to the change in the treatment of imputation credits for individuals in retirement but not receiving the age pension, should Labor win the next federal election.