Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 4) Act 2023 (29 of 2023)
Schedule 6 Financial reporting and auditing requirements for superannuation entities
Part 2 Amendments of other Acts
Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993
239 After section 130BA
Insert:
130BAA Lead auditor - obligation to notify the Regulator of attempts to unduly influence etc. the auditor etc.
Contravention by RSE audit company
(1) An RSE audit company conducting an audit of a registrable superannuation entity contravenes this subsection if:
(a) the lead auditor for the audit is aware of circumstances that amount to:
(i) an attempt, in relation to an audit of the entity, by any person to unduly influence, coerce, manipulate or mislead the lead auditor or a member of the audit team conducting the audit; or
(ii) an attempt by any person to otherwise interfere with the proper conduct of the audit; and
(b) the lead auditor does not notify the Regulator in writing of those circumstances as soon as practicable, and in any case within 28 days, after the lead auditor becomes aware of those circumstances.
Contravention by member of RSE audit firm
(2) A member of an RSE audit firm conducting an audit of a registrable superannuation entity contravenes this subsection if:
(a) the lead auditor for the audit is aware of circumstances that amount to:
(i) an attempt, in relation to an audit of the entity, by any person to unduly influence, coerce, manipulate or mislead the lead auditor or a member of the audit team conducting the audit; or
(ii) an attempt by any person to otherwise interfere with the proper conduct of the audit; and
(b) the lead auditor does not notify the Regulator in writing of those circumstances as soon as practicable, and in any case within 28 days, after the lead auditor becomes aware of those circumstances.
(3) A member of an RSE audit firm does not commit an offence at a particular time because of a contravention of subsection (2) if the member:
(a) does not know at that time of the circumstances that constitute the contravention of subsection (2); or
(b) does know of those circumstances at that time but takes all reasonable steps to correct the contravention as soon as possible after the member becomes aware of those circumstances.
Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in this subsection, see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.
Contravention by lead auditor
(4) A person contravenes this subsection if:
(a) the person is the lead auditor for an audit of a registrable superannuation entity; and
(a) the person is aware of circumstances that amount to:
(i) an attempt, in relation to an audit of the entity, by any person to unduly influence, coerce, manipulate or mislead the lead auditor or a member of the audit team conducting the audit; or
(ii) an attempt by any person to otherwise interfere with the proper conduct of the audit; and
(b) the person does not notify the Regulator in writing of those circumstances as soon as practicable, and in any case within 28 days, after the person becomes aware of those circumstances.
Offence - RSE audit company
(5) A company commits an offence if the company contravenes subsection (1).
Penalty: 250 penalty units.
Offence - lead auditor and member of RSE audit firm
(6) A person commits an offence if the person contravenes subsection (2) or (4).
Penalty: Imprisonment for 12 months or 50 penalty units, or both.
Other matters
(7) If the Regulator receives a notification under subsection (1), (2) or (4) that relates wholly or partly to an audit of a registrable superannuation entity conducted in fulfilment of a requirement imposed by a provision of Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act 2001, the Regulator must:
(a) give a copy of the notification to ASIC; and
(b) do so as soon as practicable after receiving the notification.
(8) For the purposes of this section, audit means:
(a) an audit of a registrable superannuation entity conducted in fulfilment of a requirement imposed by a provision of the RSE licensee law; or
(b) an audit of a registrable superannuation entity conducted in fulfilment of a requirement imposed by a provision of Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act 2001.