The auditor of United Global Capital and its related funds has seen his registration cancelled due to failure to adequately carry out his duties.
ASIC announced on Friday that the Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board cancelled the registration of company auditor Ryan William O’Shea for failing to carry out or perform adequately and properly his duties as auditor of UGC for FY21 and FY22, Global Capital Property Fund for FY21 to FY23, and the UGC Global Alpha Fund for FY21 and FY22.
The regulator had acted against UGC and related entities over allegations advisers from the licensee were giving conflicted advice to clients, specifically to establish an SMSF and invest in speculative investments related to the firm’s director Joel Hewish, including the GCPF.
Over $92 million was invested into GCPF and the Alpha fund, predominantly by SMSFs via UGC.
The regulator banned Hewish from providing financial services for 10 years last July, as well as cancelling UGC’s license, and product stop orders were made in 2022 to prevent further distribution of GCPF.
The CADB determined that O’Shea failed to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that the value of GCPF’s investments in 15 property developments (totalling $93 million in the 2023 financial year) five of which were related to GCPF’s directors; unit trust investments held by Alpha fund of approximately $6.5 million; and the recoverability of loans from UGC to Hewish, for which there were no loan agreements or representations from UGC’s management provided.
The CADB also found that the extensive and serious nature of the audit failures meant that O’Shea was not a fit and proper person to remain a registered company auditor.
The cancellation comes as ASIC ramps up scrutiny over “gatekeepers” in financial services with researchers, auditors and trustees becoming accountable for their role in the advice chain with similar concerns over the due diligence role played by the auditors of the Shield and First Guardian master funds.
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said this case was the intersection of two of the regulator’s enforcement priorities for 2025 – the exploitation of superannuation savings and auditor misconduct.
“Auditors are critical gatekeepers, and when they fail in their duties, the consequences for investors can be severe,” Court said in a media release.
The CADB is an independent statutory body established under the ASIC Act and members of the board are appointed by the Treasurer.
The AFCA membership of UGC was recently extended to 31 March 2026 due to new information that emerged connected the firm to the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian.
