Lenders will have to take greater care in structuring loans to trustees of self managed superannuation funds, under proposed changes to the lending rules.Late in May the Government introduced Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Bill 2010 to give greater certainty about borrowing arrangements for super funds.The bill introduces the concept of an acquirable asset, which is defined as any asset that a super fund is otherwise not prohibited from acquiring. This looks familiar, but where it varies from the current rule is in specifying that funds that can be acquired under borrowing arrangements are restricted to a "single acquirable asset".AMP technical analyst Fabian Bussoletti said super fund trustees could still acquire a collection of assets, such as a stock portfolio, that would be regarded as a single asset as long as the assets were all acquired and disposed of at the same time.Bussoletti said: "The current reference to asset has resulted in some uncertainty, so this is a welcome clarification. "It will limit the use of borrowing to invest in shares but our understanding is that the vast bulk of the borrowing was being used for commercial property investment."The Bill also proposes that funds be allowed to borrow above the value of the asset being acquired to cover costs linked to the purchase of the asset.The most controversial aspect of super fund borrowing, which must be limited recourse, is when lenders ask a member of a fund for a personal guarantee. A number of commentators have argued that this practice should be banned.The Australian Taxation Office has noted its concern that the guarantor might sue the fund in a case of default, thereby putting fund assets at risk and circumventing the requirement for funding to be limited recourse.The Bill restricts the right of the lender and the right of "any other person" (such as the guarantor) in the event of default to the rights relating only to the acquired asset.The future of super fund borrowing has been in doubt because of the amount of criticism of the 2007 amendment that widened the previously very limited scope for gearing in funds. But the Bill has clarified and refined the rules rather than limit them to any great extent.Taken with the Cooper Review's preliminary recommendations on self managed funds, which said borrowing should be maintained but monitored, the Bill indicates that gearing has a permanent place in SMSF trustees' investment planning.No one has any figures on how much has been borrowed by super funds or who is lending, although advisers say the big banks are doing the majority of the business.Bussoletti said the level of inquiries from planners on behalf of clients has been constant. "We see evidence of a lot of discussion between advisers and their clients. The lenders referred to in those inquiries are usually big banks. But we have no idea how much of that discussion turns into settled loans."