ASIC continues to act against SMSF auditors
The Australian Securities Exchange Commission (ASIC) has acted against eight self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) auditors who breached their obligations.
Between 1 April and 30 June, the regulator disqualified five and imposed additional conditions on three of SMSF auditors.
The breaches included auditing and assurance standards, independence requirements, registration conditions, or because ASIC was satisfied the individual was not a fit and proper person to remain registered.
ASIC said that Paul Barry, Stephen Funder, Bruce Jones, Gregory Leggett and Malcolm Orman were disqualified from being SMSF auditors and their names have been placed on ASIC’s public banned and disqualified register and they are not eligible to reapply for registration.
Funder has applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for the disqualification decision to be reviewed.
Following this, Toby Dodd, Mark Gregson and Clayton Lawrence had additional conditions imposed on their SMSF auditor registration. Conditions are specific to the auditor, and can require undertaking additional professional development, having independent reviews of SMSF audit files and audit tools, templates and methodology, and notifying their professional accounting association of the additional conditions.
The recent ASIC’s move followed its earlier cancelations of 413 SMSF auditors, as part of the regulator’s recent compliance program.
ASIC Commissioner Danielle Press said: “In the last year, ASIC has acted against 26 SMSF auditors who failed to meet the independence and auditing standards, or whose conduct called into question the integrity of SMSF audits.
“The SMSF sector holds more than $865 billion in assets in over 600,000 funds and it is crucial that SMSF auditors comply with their regulatory obligations. ASIC will continue to take action where the conduct of SMSF auditors is inadequate.”
Seven SMSF auditors were referred to ASIC by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and official information about one SMSF auditor was disclosed to ASIC by another Australian government body.
Media statement Danielle Press from ASIC will never utter “In the last year, ASIC has acted against 26 ISA industry funds, including their own internal auditors that they pay to provide a ‘pass’, who failed to meet the independence and auditing standards, or whose conduct called into question the integrity of superannuation audits.”
Industry super represents such a significantly larger portion of more Australian’s retirement wealth then SMSF’s and yet the regulators are blind to the corruption, falsification and downright theft of members’ funds.
Blind? Or wilfully ignorant? Or complicit?
ASIC well on path to killing all Real Advisers & SMSF Auditors.
Somehow ASIC & the ATO think it’s better to force all SMSF audits to large audit groups who send all the SMSF financial info, bank accs, share info, etc to a 3rd world country for processing.
Are ASIC & ATO trying to give this detailed SMSF wealth data to OS criminals.
Is there any thought to how easily these lowly paid processors could steal and sell data ?
And as for corruption ASIC would never do a thing against ISA auditors would they.