Recent Australian Cases

In Australia, the CA ANZ Disciplinary Tribunal suspended a member’s membership for approximately three years after the Australian Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) terminated his registration for a four year period.

The TPB found the member was no longer a fit and proper person due to making false and misleading statements to the Commissioner of Taxation, resulting in a tax shortfall and receiving payments he was not entitled to. The TPB also determined he was not providing tax services competently. In imposing its sanction, the Tribunal highlighted the seriousness of the conduct, stating that the TPB’s findings undermine public expectations of competence and integrity in CA ANZ members.

In a separate case, the Tribunal made a finding of Conduct Unbecoming of a Member for academic misconduct by a provisional member. The member’s actions led to a suspension of approximately two years, preventing completion of the CA Program during this period.

In July, the CA ANZ Disciplinary Tribunal imposed interim suspensions on two members. One member was suspended after being charged with serious criminal offences, specifically insider trading. The other, Peter White, was interim suspended following the termination of his registration as a tax agent by the TPB. Although this decision of the TPB is under review, it has not been stayed, meaning that the Tribunal could take this action.

The CA ANZ Professional Conduct Committee also took action during this period. Members were censured for a range of breaches, including:

• Having been the subject of an adverse binding determination, and having had imposed a restriction on a professional registration, due to the suspension of the member’s self-managed superannuation fund auditor’s registration for one year, with a requirement to complete conflicts of interest training
• Failing to comply with the fundamental principles of objectivity and professional competence and due care, and not applying the conceptual framework to address threats to compliance, also resulting in a $5,000 fine
• Breaching the principles of integrity, confidentiality and professional behaviour by inappropriately accessing colleagues’ taxation records, leading to a $5,000 fine in addition to the censure and a requirement to undertake ethics training.

Recent New Zealand Cases

A member in public practice with significant practice tax debts not under arrangement was censured and issued a fine of $5,000 by the NZICA Disciplinary Tribunal. The tax debt had been paid by the time of the hearing. The member also failed to meet CPD obligations. In addition to the above sanctions, the Tribunal also accepted a written undertaking from the member to surrender his Certificate of Public Practice (CPP) and not to apply for it to be re-issued, and ordered costs of $12,563.26 and publication of the decision. The Tribunal found that:

“The accumulation and non-payment of arrears of EMP [Employer Deductions] and GST [Goods and Services Tax] over several years is a particularly serious failure of professional standards by a Chartered Accountant in public practice. EMP is effectively other people’s money held on trust, and GST is money collected on behalf of the Revenue, such that neither belongs to the Member. Not passing on those deductions is a serious breach of that trust and when committed by a Member of the Institute reflects poorly on the integrity of both the Member and the profession.”

It also noted in its decision that but for the member’s imminent retirement and undertaking to surrender his CPP, it would have considered cancellation, or suspension for a substantial period, of the member’s CPP in the interests of protecting the public.

A non-member Licensed Insolvency Practitioner’s (LIP) Insolvency Licence was cancelled by the Disciplinary Tribunal in accordance with the Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Act 2019 and the NZICA Rules. The LIP failed to comply with an earlier Sanction of the Tribunal to submit to a practice review, such conduct amounting to an Offence under NZICA Rule 13.28(b)(viii).

In July, the NZICA Disciplinary Tribunal also suspended a provisional member for eight months after she submitted a false and misleading mentor’s report as part of her Chartered Accountant application. The Tribunal considered this to be Conduct Unbecoming a Member.

And in September a member was censured, fined NZD$25,000 and ordered to pay costs of $23,300.44 by the NZICA Disciplinary Tribunal following guilty pleas to four disciplinary offences. These included Conduct Unbecoming a Member, discredit, failure to observe a proper standard of professional care, skill, competence or diligence in the course of carrying out professional duties and obligations, and breach of Compliance Obligations (being the Code of Ethics and PS-1 Quality Management). The case related to the member’s failure to comply with directions from receivers and later statutory managers of a corporate client to cease acting without further instruction. The member accepted instructions from a group of minority shareholders (and direction from the group’s director) to prepare a solvency letter and statement of financial position to assist the shareholders to contest the receivership and statutory management. No client acceptance procedures were performed, and the acceptance of the engagement was found to be a conflict of interest. The member accessed the client’s Xero records to prepare the information which was then distributed to the director, the minority shareholders and their representatives and in doing so breached the fundamental principles of confidentiality and professional behaviour. The Tribunal was also concerned by the quality of the work undertaken to support the member’s opinion as to solvency and found that the statements in the Solvency Letter were unsustainable and should not have been made on the basis of the limited information relied on by the member. It found the member’s conduct to be grossly negligent, and breach the fundamental principles of objectivity, confidentiality and professional behaviour.

These decisions demonstrate the Tribunals’ and Committees’ commitment to upholding the highest standards of professional conduct. They reinforce the expectation that all members act with integrity, competence and in accordance with the values of the profession, ensuring public confidence in Chartered Accountants remains strong.

Importantly, in making their findings on liability and sanctions, the Tribunals and Committees also consider allowing for the rehabilitation of the practitioner, the background and personal circumstances of the member and consistency with decisions in similar cases.

The disciplinary process involves a thorough investigation of complaints by a disciplinary committee, followed by a formal hearing where evidence is presented. The committee then makes a decision and, if misconduct is founded, imposes appropriate sanctions based on the severity of the misconduct. As the recent cases summarised above show, common issues addressed in these decisions include non-compliance with accounting and auditing standards, ethical violations such as conflicts of interest and confidentiality breaches, and issues related to professional competence.

For more detailed case studies and specific decisions, please refer to the disciplinary section on the CA ANZ website. These resources provide comprehensive information on actions taken to maintain the integrity and competence of the profession, ensuring that members adhere to the highest standards of ethical and professional behaviour.

Read the full published disciplinary hearing decisions.