“Those people who have been offered or have taken up an offer to set up their super fund uber quickly because they’ve signed it online, will find that their document is invalid,” said Mr Townsend.

If a deed is found to be invalid, then the court could take the view that there is an “oral trust” in place, Mr Townsend explained.

“If the deed they signed is invalid, there is just an oral trust; it’s a real trust but it’s not necessarily on the terms of trust deed, and almost certainly wouldn’t comply with the SIS Act.”

There would be very substantial taxation issues arising from this, he warned, because the fund would not meet the requirements to get the tax concessions.

Mr Townsend said the legislation around documents and signatures might be something that the government needs to examine, and that the regulator needs to look at and review in the meantime.

“Now, unfortunately, the laws that I’m talking about are state laws, so they’ll need to be amended in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.”

There is also a chance that the trustees signing these trust deeds electronically could take legal action against the provider of the trust deed, if they face significant taxation consequences.

“I would think where this has been offered, there’s been a representation that the fund deed will be compliant with the SIS Act, and that representation [might be] proven to be inaccurate,” Mr Townsend said.

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