In the letter, ASIC commissioner Danielle Press said cases of financial advice fees being charged without the provision of the relevant services have recently been the subject of inquiry by the royal commission.

“Separately, we have identified a range of industry practices in relation to trustee oversight, many of which fall below the standard we expect. A number of these matters are the subject of enforcement investigations or actions,” said Ms Press.

“This raises concerns about some trustees’ risk governance, capabilities and culture, as well as their ability to appropriately manage conflicts of interest.”

The letter flagged a number of issues that should be considered in relation to the deduction of financial advice fees.

“Trustees should consider all necessary steps to make sure that members are clearly aware of fees being deducted from their account. Best practice would be to obtain effective consumer authorisation to charge the fees on a regular basis,” it said.

“In addition, there should be ongoing disclosure of the fees containing the specifics of the adviser receiving the fee, rather than relying on historical disclosure.”

Trustees of super funds should also be aware of circumstances where services are not being provided.

“There is a range of external data sources including the Financial Advisers Register, the ATO Provision of Details service, which provides data regarding deceased people and internal records such as members changing plans, that would assist trustees in undertaking appropriate checks,” said Ms Press.

Another aspect which needs to be considered is whether the deduction is consistent with the sole purpose test.

“The sole purpose test means that only costs associated with advice that relates to the member’s superannuation and insurance obtained through superannuation may be deducted from the member’s superannuation account,” the letter clarified.