Scott Charaneka

Scott Charaneka is the Head of Superannuation & Wealth Management at Thomson Geer and is an industry leading financial services lawyer. He has comprehensive experience in establishment, licensing, governance, administration, distribution, restructuring, investment and tax matters associated with superannuation, funds management and life insurance products. He presently acts for many of Australia’s largest private and public sector financial institutions.

Scott has previously worked as an in-house counsel at Legal & General and ING. He is a regular speaker at conferences, has designed key training programs for boards and responsible officers and is a guest lecturer at UNSW law school.  He was the lead editor of Wickens The Law of Life Insurance in Australia from 1998 to 2008, a co-editor of the CCH Australian Superannuation Law & Practice from 2001 to 2010, a co-editor of the Lexis Nexis Financial Services Newsletter from 2001 to 2008 and is a current co-editor of the Lexis Nexis Australian Superannuation Law Bulletin. Scott is a fellow of ASFA and Deputy Chair of their Queensland State Executive Committee, an emeritus member of the Law Council of Australia Superannuation Lawyers Committee and was appointed to APRA’s Superannuation Lawyers Liaison Forum.

• The CCH Guide to Estate Planning (first and second edition);
• The CCH Guide to Super Choice;
• Establishing a Funds Management Business in Australia (first and second edition); and
• The CCH Guide to MySuper, SuperChoice and SuperStream.

Scott was awarded the Lexology International Client Choice Award for the banking sector in Australia in 2014 and 2016 and the Legal’s Finest 200 Banking & Finance Law Award Australia in 2014. Scott has been recognised by his peers as ‘Lawyer of the Year’ by Best Lawyers in Australia 2022 in the area of Superannuation Law in Melbourne and as one of the Best Lawyers in Australia from 2012 – 2022 inclusive in the categories of Regulatory Practice and Superannuation Law. Scott has been recognised by Chambers Asia-Pacific (2018-2021) in the area of Superannuation law.  Scott was listed in Who’s Who Legal: Pensions & Benefits from 2014 and Who’s Who’s Legal: Labour, Employment and Benefits from 2014. Scott was a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards 2017, 2018 and 2019.

• Advised Club Super on its merger with Host-Plus, which saw the transfer of Club Super’s 22,000 members along with $600 million Funds Under Management
• Acted for AustralianSuper in the preparation for, and hearings of, the Royal Commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry.
• Advised QSuper on the establishment of QInsure, an industry first for a superannuation fund. The matter involved advising on the preferred structure for this arrangement jointly involving the transfer of a self-insurance risk reserve and the establishment of a group life insurer as an investment of the fund. Discrete advices on stamp duty and governance were provided, as well as assisting in drafting the relevant board to green light the proposal
• Acted for the lead consortium member, AustralianSuper, in the sale of its stake in a jointly owned administration company and to simultaneously negotiate amendments to existing administration and custody agreements (to take effect post sale) and new administration and custody agreements to take effect 27 months post transaction.
• Acted for the Pillar board on its sale by the NSW State Government. The matter involved advising on the impact of the sale on the existing commercial administration agreements, advise of employment issues for all Pillar employees (700+), reviewing requests for information by third parties, assisting in the creation of a data room and providing advice to Pillar regarding competition law aspects of the proposed sale.
• Advising a range of superannuation fund trustees on MySuper changes and compliance with APRA prudential standardActed for AustralianSuper (Australia’s largest superannuation fund) on the redesign of its current defined benefit arrangements (currently valued at $1.9 billion AUD).
• Advising AustralianSuper on the sale of shares in SuperPartners and negotiation of new administration arrangements.
• The successor fund transfer of the IBM staff fund to AustralianSuper (the largest in Australian history).
• Advising public sector and industry superannuation fund trustees on participation in a number of multi-jurisdictional investments.
• Negotiation of administration, investment management and custody agreements for public sector and industry superannuation fund trustees.
• Conducting a universal review of an employer’s obligations to make superannuation contributions under the superannuation guarantee legislation, industrial instruments and employment contracts.
• Advising large employers on redesigning of employee superannuation entitlements from defined benefit to accumulation and repatriation of actuarial surplus.