Accountants quick to report dodgy advice, lawyer says
As accountants continue to populate the advice space under the new SMSF licensing regime, one industry lawyer says they are often central to reporting cases of poor professional advice, and are typically quick to expose dodgy operators.
Slater and Gordon commercial and project litigation senior associate James Naughton says many referrals received by his firm regarding poor professional advice come directly from accountants.
“In many cases, they really are on the frontline and identify potential issues or problems with their own client files,” he said.
Mr Naughton said situations arise where someone has received poor professional advice which leads to losses and they are embarrassed about it or they don’t even know they’ve lost the money.
“Often the accountant is the first person to look through that person’s financial records to really pick up that there’s really been an error or an issue or a potentially negligent act that’s occurred in respect to their client,” he said.
He stressed the importance of accountants continuing to report these instances of poor professional conduct and ensuring their clients get the best advice on the rights they have in these situations.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
