28 self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditors had their registrations cancelled, conditions imposed on them, or were disqualified by ASIC in the first half of the 25-26 financial year.

SMSF auditors are responsible for providing assurance over the $1 trillion in retirement savings held in Australia’s 661,000 SMSF accounts. They must act as trusted gatekeepers who contribute to the integrity and confidence in the SMSF regime.

Between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2025, ASIC:

• disqualified 4 SMSF auditors,
• imposed additional conditions on 2 SMSF auditors, and
• cancelled the registration of 22 SMSF auditors.

ASIC took this action after finding breaches of professional obligations and standards, including:

• failing to comply with auditing and assurance standards, independence and continuing professional development requirements or to hold professional indemnity insurance,
• failing to provide ASIC with annual statements,
• failing to advise ASIC of changes to their contact details on the public register of SMSF auditors and not responding to regulatory compliance requests, and
• failing to carry out enough audit work to meet the practical experience requirements.

Andy Choi, Robert Morey, Andrew Orphanides and Ermis Yianni were disqualified from being SMSF auditors.

John Couroyannis and Dawid Maj had additional conditions imposed on their SMSF auditor registrations. The specific conditions can be viewed by searching the SMSF auditor’s name in ASIC’s Professional Registers Search.

Of the 22 auditors who had their registrations cancelled, 9 were cancelled over a failure to perform any significant audit work during the last 5 years. These auditors were referred to ASIC by the ATO, further adding to the 11 auditors who had their registrations cancelled last year as part of the ATO’s ongoing project to identify auditors who fail to maintain the necessary practical experience. These auditors were Yvonne Ching, Patrick Hoey, Christopher Leech, Rochelle Massih, Barry Mendel, Rick Siew, Thien Siow, John Whiting and Weifeng Zhu.

Ahmed Afifi and Fredel Twum were cancelled for not updating their contact details on the public register and failing to respond to regulatory compliance requests.

The registrations of 11 SMSF auditors were cancelled by ASIC for failing to comply with their obligation to lodge multiple annual statements.

Increased scrutiny on in-house audit independence breaches

ASIC has also increased its scrutiny on in-house audits, which occur when auditors audit the financial statements of SMSF clients they or their firm also provide accounting services to.

Two of the 4 auditors disqualified in the last 6 months – Mr Orphanides and Mr Yianni – were disqualified because ASIC found they continued auditing SMSFs whose financial statements were prepared by staff in their own firm. ASIC contends that this conduct continued even after ASIC had previously imposed extra conditions on their SMSF auditor registrations to address this very issue.

Since 2020, auditors are explicitly prohibited from auditing SMSF financial statements where their firm provides accounting services, including preparing financial statements, unless the accounting services are routine or mechanical and any independence threats created by providing those services are reduced an acceptable level.

However, a 2025 review by the ATO indicated that up to 800 SMSF auditors may still be performing in-house audits, so this risk continues to remain a focus on the ATO’s compliance program.

Where SMSF auditor conduct falls short, ASIC will continue to act.

More information

• ASIC’s SMSF auditors webpage and Regulatory Guide 243 Registration of self-managed superannuation fund auditors.
• ASIC’s Professional Registers Search contains publicly available registered SMSF auditor current status and details.
• ATO’s website: SMSF auditor independence compliance focuses.

Background

Approved SMSF auditors are registered with ASIC under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act). ASIC and the ATO work closely together as co-regulators of SMSF auditors. The ATO monitors SMSF auditor conduct and may decide to refer matters to ASIC. ASIC also monitors the SMSF auditor population for non-compliance and is empowered to disqualify, suspend, cancel or impose additional conditions on the registration of SMSF auditors.

ASIC may:

• make an order disqualifying or suspending a person from being an approved SMSF auditor, under section 130F of the SIS Act, if the person has failed to carry out or perform adequately and properly the duties and functions of an auditor or is not a fit and proper person to be an approved SMSF auditor. The order disqualifying a person from being an approved SMSF auditor must be published by notifiable instrument detailed in the Notifiable ASIC instruments listing. A disqualified SMSF auditor is placed on ASIC’s public banned and disqualified register and is not eligible to reapply for registration unless the disqualification is revoked. Suspension orders are not notifiable instruments, however the approved SMSF auditor status in the register will show ‘suspended’ during the time of suspension.
• impose conditions on an SMSF auditor’s registration under section 128D of the SIS Act at any time by giving written notice.
• cancel the registration of an SMSF auditor under section 128E of the SIS Act for non-compliance with conditions, ceasing to have the practical experience necessary for carrying out audits of SMSFs, failing to lodge annual statements in the required timeframe or ceasing to be an Australian resident.

SMSF auditors have the right to seek review of decisions that ASIC makes in relation to their registration under the SIS Act. They may request that ASIC reconsider a decision it has made against them. If the decision is confirmed or varied the SMSF auditor may apply to the ART for further review of the confirmed or varied decision.

Mr Morey and Mr Yianni requested ASIC reconsider its disqualification decision and in each case the disqualifications were confirmed.

Mr Morey has applied to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) for review of the decision to disqualify him.

Mr Yianni has advised ASIC that he has applied to the ART for review of the decision to disqualify him.

APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards) was restructured effective 1 January 2020 to prohibit auditors from auditing SMSF financial statements where their firm provides accounting services, including preparing financial statements, unless the accounting services are routine or mechanical and any independence threats created by providing those services are reduced an acceptable level.