ASIC disqualifies SMSF auditor - July 2015
ASIC has disqualified a NSW auditor following his failure to identify a number of significant contraventions while auditing SMSFs during 2011 and 2012.
In a public statement, ASIC announced that Peter Brenan of Bangor, NSW has been disqualified and will no longer be approved as an SMSF auditor after ASIC found that work he performed in auditing three SMSFs for 2011 and 2012 was deficient.
“In particular, Mr Brenan failed to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence about the funds' compliance with the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (the SIS Act) and consequently a number of significant contraventions were not identified by him,” ASIC said in the statement.
ASIC also reported that Mr Brenan failed to provide written audit reports to the funds.
Concerns relating to Mr Brenan’s conduct were referred to ASIC by the Australian Tax Office under the SIS Act.
ASIC Commissioner John Price said that as the SMSF sector continues to grow in popularity with Australian investors, it is critical that approved SMSF auditors perform their role adequately.
“ASIC will continue to work with the ATO in acting to identify and remove auditors whose audit quality performance falls short,” said Mr Price.