The federal government will consult “with an open mind” on the future of limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA) and talk to all stakeholders before making a decision, according to Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

A financial services firm has warned business owners against holding buy/sell cover inside an SMSF in order to receive a tax deduction for the associated insurance premiums.

The SMSF Association has announced it will be making a new accreditation available for its members in 2015.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is expecting the number of SMSF auditors completing the mandatory registration process to increase steadily over the coming few years.

Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) on Corporations and Financial Services chair Senator David Fawcett has thrown his support behind the concept of an SMSF profession.

The ATO has affirmed the SMSF auditor registration requirement is already making a difference in improving the quality of audits in the industry, particularly through the elimination of practitioners who were servicing a very small number of funds.

SMSF auditors would need to remain vigilant when reporting contraventions and ensure trustees understood how these would be dealt with according to the new penalty regime the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) introduced this financial year.

Accountants will need to adopt a new business model if they want to continue to be successful in the SMSF space in years to come, one specialist practitioner has said.

Recreo Financial Technologies has launched its next-generation platform in the SMSF market after identifying a need for planners and clients to have more time to focus on financial plans, rather than working through administrative and compliance challenges.