ob体育 has taken action against 11 self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditors, where conduct has fallen short and they have breached their obligations, in the quarter ending 30 September 2023. This included breaches of auditing and assurance standards, independence requirements and registration conditions.
ob体育 Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, 鈥楽MSF auditors have a critical role in upholding the integrity of the SMSF sector through annual audits. They oversee over 610,000 SMSFs, representing more than $875 billion in funds. SMSF auditors play an essential role in supporting confidence in the SMSF sector, and ob体育 will continue to take action where their conduct is inadequate.鈥櫶�
Between 1 July 2023 and 30 September 2023, ob体育:
- disqualified three SMSF auditors;
- imposed additional conditions on five SMSF auditors; and
- cancelled the registration of three SMSF auditors.
Carlo Celisano, Eamon Lynch and Brian Townhill were disqualified from being SMSF auditors. Their names have been placed on ob体育鈥檚 public banned and disqualified register and are not eligible to reapply for registration.
Anthony Boys, Laurence Carwardine, Gurjeet Singh, Bruno Sternberg and Mark Turner had additional conditions imposed on their SMSF auditor registration. Conditions are specific to the auditor (see the ), and can require undertaking additional professional development, passing the SMSF auditor competency exam, having independent reviews of SMSF audit files and/or audit tools, templates and methodology, performing independence threat and safeguard evaluation and notifying their professional accounting association of the additional conditions.
Jeffrey Leahy, James Ulrich and Lou Varalla had their SMSF auditor registration cancelled.
All 11 SMSF auditors were referred to ob体育 by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Background
Approved SMSF auditors are registered with ob体育 under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act).
ob体育 and the ATO work closely together as co-regulators of SMSF auditors. The ATO monitors SMSF auditor conduct and can refer matters to ob体育. ob体育 also monitors the SMSF auditor population for non-compliance and is empowered to disqualify, suspend, cancel or impose additional conditions on the registration of SMSF auditors.
ob体育 may make an order disqualifying or suspending a person from being an approved SMSF auditor, under section 130F of the SIS Act, if the person has failed to carry out or perform adequately and properly the duties and functions of an auditor or is not a fit and proper person to be an approved SMSF auditor. A disqualified SMSF auditor is placed on ob体育鈥檚 public banned and disqualified register at听听and is not eligible to reapply for registration.
ob体育 may impose conditions on an SMSF auditor鈥檚 registration under section 128D of the SIS Act, or may cancel the registration of an SMSF auditor under section 128E of the SIS Act for non-compliance with conditions or failing to lodge annual statements in the required timeframe.
SMSF auditors have the right to appeal decisions ob体育 makes in relation to them under the SIS Act. They may request that ob体育 reconsider a decision it has made against them. If the decision is confirmed or varied the SMSF auditor may apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for further review of the decision.
Further information can be found on ob体育's website and in听Regulatory Guide 243听Registration of self-managed superannuation fund auditors.
SMSF trustees and members can check whether their auditor is registered, suspended or has conditions imposed on their registration by searching ob体育's听.
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Editor's note:听
Mr Celisano, Mr Lynch and Mr Townhill requested reconsideration of ob体育's disqualification decision. Mr Lynch subsequently withdrew his reconsideration request. ob体育 confirmed its disqualification decisions against Mr Celisano and Mr Townhill.听听
Editor's note 2:听
On October 2023, Mr Celisano applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), for ob体育's disqualification decision to be reviewed and subsequently withdrew his application, which was dismissed by the AAT effective 1 August 2024.听