The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has taken action against 13 SMSF auditors in the first half of 2024, disqualifying seven of them and cancelling or suspending the registrations of two others.
The corporate watchdog stated it took the actions between 1 January 2024 and 30 June 2024 following referrals from the ATO in regard to a range of concerns, including failure to meet the auditing standards and independence requirements, not satisfying continuing professional development obligations, and instances where individuals were deemed unfit to continue as approved SMSF auditors.
Specifically, those disqualified from practicing as SMSF auditors include Tak Cheng, Lin Chou, Kristian Convery, John Giannicos, Mark Gynther, John Hamilton, Md Nazrul Islam, and Kylie Wee.
Each of these individuals requested ASIC to reconsider its disqualification orders but the decisions were confirmed with the exception of Kylie Wee, who received a three-year suspension instead, commencing 19 September 2024.
Md Nazrul Islam has applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a review of his disqualification, which is ongoing. Convery applied to the AAT as well for a stay and review of his disqualification, but his applications were dismissed.
Further action was taken against Mohammed Bhuiyan, Paul Judge, Yan Liu, and Liushui Xie, who had additional conditions placed on their auditor registrations including completing professional development, passing the SMSF auditor competency exam, and undergoing independent reviews of their audit files.
Max Haber had his registration cancelled.
Commenting on the enforcement measures, the regulator said: “SMSF auditors are key gatekeepers responsible for the growing SMSF sector, providing assurance for 625,609 SMSFs with total estimated assets of over $990 billion.
“SMSF auditors are crucial to upholding the integrity and confidence in the SMSF regime. ASIC will continue to take action where conduct is not up to standard.”
Similar enforcement measures were taken against nine SMSF auditors in the December quarter of 2023 and 11 auditors in the September quarter of the same year.
