AAT sets aside SMSF auditor disqualification
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has set aside the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) decision to disqualify John Gilliland from being an approved self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditor, reinstating his registration as an approved SMSF auditor.
On 15 August, 2018, ASIC made an order disqualifying Gilliland from being an approved SMSF auditor for breaching auditor independence requirements.
Along with another Queensland auditor, Douglas Coghlan, the two breached independence requirements in auditing their own funds, the fund of an immediate family member and the fund of a close family member.
Both were referred to ASIC by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) under section 128P of the SIS Act.
In September 2018, Gilliland applied to ASIC for the decision to be reconsidered and ASIC reaffirmed the disqualification decision.
On 15 October, 2018, Gilliland applied to the AAT for a review of the decision.
On 1 September, 2020, ASIC filed an application to appeal the AAT decision to the Federal Court of Australia.
AUTHOR
Chris Dastoor
Recommended for you
Having sold Madison to Infocus earlier this year, Clime has now set up a new financial advice licensee with eight advisers.
With licensees such as Insignia looking to AI for advice efficiencies, they are being urged to write clear AI policies as soon as possible to prevent a “Wild West” of providers being used by their practices.
Iress has revealed the number of clients per adviser that top advice firms serve, as well as how many client meetings they conduct each week.
Morningstar has made two business development appointments to drive the growth strategy of its financial advice software, AdviserLogic.
