The registration of 29 auditors of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) have been cancelled by corporate watchdog ASIC for failing to lodge their annual statements.
Under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act), all SMSF auditors are required to lodge a statement with ASIC within 30 days of the anniversary of their registration, or risk cancellation of their registration. The statements collect important compliance information.
The latest action from ASIC followed the cancellation of 374 SMSF auditors in January and 10 SMSF auditors in May 2022, as part of the regulator’s current compliance program.
“ASIC expects SMSF auditors to comply with their regulatory obligations given the important role they play in promoting confidence in the SMSF sector,” said Danielle Press (pictured above), ASIC commissioner. “ASIC will continue to monitor whether SMSF auditors are complying with their obligations and take action where their conduct falls short.”
The latest group had been advised on Aug. 3 and March 21 about their outstanding annual statements and about ASIC considering cancelling their registration, before getting served their notices of cancellation on May 22.
ASIC said it had communicated to more than 1,400 SMSF auditors that they had outstanding annual statements, with most of the auditors subsequently submitting their annual statements.
Many of the cancelled SMSF auditors were active, and the reason why they had failed to lodge their annual statements may be due to poor administrative practices such as failing to keep their contact details up to date on the SMSF auditor register, ASIC said.
A cancelled SMSF auditor may reapply for registration in the future.
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