By General
AMP Bank's SuperEdge product has officially reentered the market, marking the second-tier lender's return to the SMSF lending market after eight years. AMP Bank, alongside the vast majority of traditional lenders, left the SMSF lending space in the late 2010s following years of regulatory scrutiny over leveraged superannuation investments. Both the 2014 Financial System Inquiry and the Banking Royal Commission warned that leveraging superannuation to invest, including in property via limited recourse borrowing arrangements, can magnify losses and threaten retirement adequacy. The Inquiry recommended that the government restore the general prohibition on direct borrowing by superannuation funds. These concerns were amplified when housing prices softened in parts of Australia in the late 2010s, prompting major banks including Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and Macquarie to stop offering SMSF lending products.
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