ASIC takes action against SMSF auditors
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has disqualified and suspended or added conditions to the registration of a number of auditors of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
The SMSF auditors against whom the regulator took action were: Strat Karnas of Victoria, Keith Knight of the Australian Capital Territory, Trevor Ward of New South Wales, Ranjit Dadwal of Victoria, Joseph Carbone of South Australia, Antonia Christine Quinn of Western Australia and Chooi Beh of Victoria.
The action followed the regulator’s concerns regarding the auditors’ quality of audit, independence issues and failures to meet the fit and proper person criteria, ASIC said.
ASIC Commissioner, John Price, said the regulator would continue to take action where the conduct of auditors fell short.
“Self-managed superannuation fund auditors play a fundamental tole in promoting confidence in the SMSF sector, so it is crucial that they adhere to ethical, auditing and professional requirements,” he said.
From 1 July 2013, the SIS Act required all auditors of SMSFs to be required with ASIC in order to ensure that all SMSF auditors meet the base standards of competency and expertise.
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