FSA/FCA Mutuals Registration Team: Job Advert & 01.04.13 Changes

Jonathan Bromberger Manager - e-Money, Mutuals & PSD Teams at the FSA writes in a widely circulated email:

"I am writing to update you on several current (or upcoming) changes for the Mutuals Registration Team (“the team”) as these will influence the way we interact with your organisation and the mutual sector more generally.

The team is in the midst of delivering significant change which will cover:

• Actively considering how to implement the Draft Mutual Societies Order and how our role as registrar changes as a consequence;
•   Reviewing our processes, systems and ways of working;
•   Up-skilling the team;
•    How we engage with the co-operative and mutual sector more generally &
•    Planning for succession.

There is also a restructuring in the wider FSA, as we approach 01 April 2013 when FSA legally separates into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).  However the registrar function will operate as part of the FCA and provide all the services required by societies whatever their society type.

In recognition of the importance FSA places on the successful delivery of these challenges the manager of the team will now have solo responsibility for the team, rather than managing a multiple portfolio.  The team will be located in the Approved Persons Passporting & Mutuals (“APPM”) department in Authorisations.  At 01 April, I will step down as the manager of the team and Beverley Walker will run the team on an interim basis.  Beverley will do so while the FSA seeks to recruit a permanent replacement and she will report to Graeme McLean who is the experienced Head of Department for APPM.  I will be in the FSA for a period after 01 April and will ensure an orderly handover of my mutual responsibilities.

I have attached a draft copy of the Mutuals manager job advert, if you are aware of any candidates this might suit or interest, please forward the advert to them (Job ad template Auth (6) (4) (4) (2) (3) (4) ).

If they wish to discuss the role, I am happy to do so with potential applicants and they can submit their applications via the following hyperlink:

http://www.careersatfsa.com/how-to-apply.aspx ...........................

Looking to the future I would also like to introduce Ian Adderley.  Ian joined my team this month as a Senior Associate and comes to us with a background of involvement in the co-operative movement. He previously worked for Co-operatives Yorkshire and the Humber- a regional co-operative council, representing, promoting and connecting co-operatives in that region. Whilst there he successfully organised and deliveredFutures North- an event bringing together co-operators across the north of the UK; and frequently spoke at events explaining and advocating the role of co-operatives and the co-operative economy. Ian has been active in the co-operative movement in various other ways including as a director of a national co-operative and previously as an elected member on committees of The Co-operative Group. Prior to working in the co-operative movement Ian read Law with Politics and was later called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn.  Most recently, Ian worked for the public services trade union, UNISON. There he worked as the national Ballots Manager, responsible for ensuring legal compliance in the running of industrial action ballots. His work also involved reviewing ballot processes, project managing the creation of new systems, writing guidance and delivering training.

I know Ian is keen to speak with people from across the co-operative and mutual sector. He will be in touch with you once he has completed his initial period in the team, however if you would like to contact him sooner, his contact details are:

Email: Ian.Adderley@fsa.gov.uk"

New Short Article on IPS Law.......

Here is a short guide to IPS Law as it stood at the end of 2012 with some reference to changes likely later this year. Maybe a useful reference piece of introduction........

I & P Charities To Be Covered by “Gift Aid on Cash Donations” Scheme

At the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Small Charitable Donations Bill 2012 on 30^th October 2012, Gareth Thomas MP Co-operative Party Chair and Shadow Minister for Civil Society won an assurance from the Government Minister that I & P charities are within the Bill.

This means that those Community Benefit Societies registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 2003 which meet the criteria for charities will, once the Bill is in effect, like other charities, be able to claim a limited amount of tax rebate on cash donations if they already operate the Gift Aid Scheme for tax benefits and meet other conditions.

Minister's assurance could help if the inclusion of I & P's were seen as uncertain after the Bill is law - Pepper v Hart .

In addition, the Minister agreed, at Gareth's request, to write to the Charity Commission to ask them to speed up their decision about who should regulate charitable I & P's.

A good day's work for the Co-operative Party.

See Hansard section on Clause 17 from column 317. here is the Minister's clarification:

“Sajid Javid:  I understand the intention behind amendment 34, but I ask the hon. Member for Harrow West to withdraw it, because it is not necessary. Clause 17 sets out definitions for several of the terms used in the Bill. Subsection (1) defines what is meant by a charity which, for the purposes of the Bill, includes a charity eligible for UK charity tax reliefs, and certain organisations that are not charities in law, but that benefit from gift aid. Those are community amateur sports clubs, as well as certain named organisations. 

Amendment 34 would add a further type of organisation to the definition of a charity: industrial and provident societies that operate as charities. Industrial and provident societies are regulated by the Financial Services Authority, rather than the Charity Commission, but some of them are charities, as the hon. Gentleman said. Industrial and provident societies that are charities are entitled to claim UK charity tax reliefs, including gift aid, because they meet the definition of a charity as set out in subsection (1)(a). It follows that there is no need to specify that industrial and provident societies are a separate class of organisation to which the Bill will apply. When an industrial and provident society is not currently a charity, it is not eligible for the scheme. Those societies that are charities automatically qualify for the scheme, subject to their meeting the eligibility conditions.

[.....]
Forgive me, dear reader, for also quoting this extract:

Mr Thomas: The Minister has been helpful and given clarity to bencom societies that are charities, saying that they are covered under the Bill if they fulfill all the criteria that we have debated at some length. That will provide huge reassurance to those legal experts who advise industrial and provident societies, such as Mr Snaith, who is a distinguished former university lecturer and expert on the co-op and co-op law.

© Ian Snaith 2012 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Noderivs 2.0 England and Wales Licence. To view a copy of this licence visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA

Draft Co-op Law Consolidation Bill by March 2013......?

Hot news on the great Cameron and Co-operatives UK Co-op Law consolidation project.

I have just spotted that in its Business Plan for 2012-2013 (at page 11) The Law Commission states that an aim in its consolidation programme is:
"To consolidate the legislation about co-operative and public (sic) benefit societies (previously known as industrial and provident societies)"

The milestone for this is to "Provide a draft Co-operative and Public (sic) Benefit Societies Bill to HMT by March 2013".

It is encouraging to have a publicly announced date for the provision of a draft Bill to HM Treasury. A shame that the long hallowed "community benefit" (bencom) label for one type of society became "public benefit" in this brief entry in a Business Plan. A slip of the word processor perhaps?

© Ian Snaith 2012 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Noderivs 2.0 England and Wales Licence. To view a copy of this licence visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA

Co-op Registration and Bill Cash's Ancestors

To make the primary materials more accessible to fellow co-op law anaraks at this stage in the Parliamentary process, I have put a PDF of extracts from the Financial Services Bill 2012 & Explanatory Note on Mutual Society Registration online here.
I have not found time to analyse them and they are fairly straightforward. They empower HMT to transfer the registration function for industrial and provident societies, friendly societies and building societies from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (a renamed FSA with fewer powers) and/or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) (a wing of the Bank of England dealing with banking regulation).
Subclause 47(3) allows complete flexibility for transfers to either or both and between them on an ongoing basis and subclause 47(4) allows the functions currently administered in Northern Ireland to be transferred to London.
I have not found the time to examine the proposed changes in any depth and the best place to look for that is probably the Draft Mutual Societies Order here .

In the House of Commons debate on the clause, an opposition amendment to encourage the collection of data on mutuals was lost.
However, the debate was well worthwhile. It was revealed that arch-Euro-sceptic Bill Cash, Tory MP for Stone, is a descendant of a founder of the Abbey National Building Society. We all remember what happened to that........
In fairness Mr Cash, who seems to believe that the main purpose of the Rochdale Pioneers in founding the world-wide co-operative movement was to help people to buy houses, pointed out that the Abbey National is now Santander. He expressed some concern about the possible implications of the link to Spanish banking system.

© Ian Snaith 2012 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Noderivs 2.0 England and Wales Licence. To view a copy of this licence visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA