Deficient SMSF regime required auditor registration
The objective reality of auditor registration and the abolition of the accountants' exemption is that there were deficiencies under the old regime, according to OnePath superannuation strategy manager, Graeme Colley.
Commenting on the Stronger Super changes, Coley said on the evidence available, such improvements are long overdue.
"I think the only objective view you can get on compliance is what the ATO (the Australian Taxation Office) is saying," he said. "I was on the self-managed fund working party, and the ATO was indicating quite clearly that there were professionals out there that weren't conducting audits of self-managed superannuation funds, but also that the way in which the funds themselves were conducted was very ad hoc and very haphazard.
"Now if that's indicative of a portion of the self-managed fund market, then the competencies of advisors to this sector certainly need to be improved, particularly on the margins."
Colley said that while compliance within self-managed super had undoubtedly improved in recent years, there remained problem areas that needed to be addressed.
"The competency of SMSF advisors has improved, but it still has a way to go and I think that's what the Government was concerned with in the Cooper Inquiry," Colley continued. "And you'll probably see that pan out over the next few months once we start the legislation for auditors, accountants, financial planners and see whether the legislation will actually require another bit of a jump to improve the competency of those professionals further.
"At the end of the day, SMSF rules are quite complex," Colley added. "So people trying to get into the self-managed fund space really need to be competent before they get in there rather than learning on the job."
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