The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has reinstated the registration of a Queensland SMSF auditor, who was disqualified in 2018, after the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) set aside that decision.
ASIC disqualified John Gilliland on 15 August 2018 from being an approved SMSF auditor, claiming at the time he had breached auditor independence requirements.
Specifically the corporate watchdog found Gilliland had not complied with his independence obligations as he had audited his own fund, the fund of an immediate family member and the fund of a close family member.
A month later, in September 2018, Gilliland applied to ASIC for the decision to be reconsidered and the regulator reaffirmed its disqualification decision, and in October 2018, he applied to the AAT for a review of the decision.
On 5 August 2020, the AAT set aside ASIC’s decision and Gilliland’s registration as an approved SMSF auditor has been reinstated by the regulator.
The regulator, however, filed an application on 1 September to appeal the AAT decision in the Federal Court.
