28 SMSF auditors face ASIC regulation for obligation breaches

ASIC has revealed it has taken action against SMSF auditors who have failed to uphold the integrity and confidence of the SMSF regime.

The regulator noted that between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2025, 28 SMSF auditors were subject to regulatory action, with four disqualified, two imposed with additional conditions, and 22 having their registration cancelled.

ASIC said action was taken on the basis that SMSF auditors were responsible for assuring the $1 trillion in retirement savings held in Australia’s 661,000 SMSF accounts, and were known as “trusted gatekeepers”.

It was revealed that Andy Choi, Robert Morey, Andrew Orphanides and Ermis Yianni were the auditors who were disqualified from their roles for breaches of obligations.

Orphanides and Yianni were said to be disqualified following ASIC's finding that they had continued auditing SMSFs whose financial statements were prepared by staff in their own firm.

Those with additional conditions imposed on their SMSF auditor registrations could be viewed by searching the SMSF auditor’s name in the ASIC Professional Registers Search.

According to the watchdog, action was taken after finding breaches of professional obligations which included failing to comply with auditing and assurance standards, failing to provide ASIC with annual statements, failing to advise ASIC of changes to their contact details on the public register of SMSF auditors, not responding to regulatory compliance requests and failing to carry out enough audit work to meet the practical experience requirements.

From these breaches, the 22 auditors whose registrations were cancelled included nine who had failed to perform any significant audit work during the last five years.

These auditors consisted of Yvonne Ching, Patrick Hoey, Christopher Leech, Rochelle Massih, Barry Mendel, Rick Siew, Thien Siow, John Whiting and Weifeng Zhu – all of whom were referred to ASIC by the ATO as part of its ongoing project to identify auditors who failed to maintain the necessary practical experience.

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

“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 to an acceptable level,” ASIC said.

“A 2025 review by the ATO indicated that up to 800 SMSF auditors may still be performing in-house audits, so the risk continues to remain a focus on the ATO’s compliance program. Where SMSF auditor conduct falls short, ASIC will continue to act.”