Provision of annual reports via hyperlink

(Clause 78)

Summary of proposed amendment

A change to the KiwiSaver rules will allow scheme providers to send their members a copy of their annual report via hyperlink, if the member has agreed to this in writing. This will reduce compliance costs for providers.

Application date

The amendment will apply from 1 July 2010 or the date of enactment of the legislation, whichever is later.

Key features

Section 122 of the KiwiSaver Act 2006 (which incorporates section 17 of the Superannuation Schemes Act 1989) requires the trustees of a KiwiSaver scheme to provide an annual report to all KiwiSaver members in their scheme. If an email address is provided, the annual report can be delivered in an electronic format through an email attachment.

However, the annual report requirement cannot be satisfied by providing a hyperlink to the report in an email, as a hyperlink provides a “point of access” to the information rather than providing the information itself. If the provider is unable to deliver the report via email, for example, because of firewalls or a lack of capacity in the recipient’s email account, a hardcopy of the annual report must be supplied. This imposes additional compliance costs.

An amendment to section 122 of the KiwiSaver Act 2006 will allow scheme providers to satisfy the requirements to provide an annual report by sending a hyperlink in an email which links to the annual report, if the member has agreed to this in writing.