WIBF Annual General Meeting

Notice of Annual General Meeting (AGM)

“This year’s AGM will be held at 6pm-8pm on Tuesday 24th April at Thomson Reuters, 30 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5EP

Agenda:

1. Review of accounts and financial performance for the year ending 30 September 2017;
2. Changes to the Articles of Association (Articles) (please see the explanatory notes set out below); and
3. TBC

Please continue to check the website for updates to the agenda and to register attendance. 

Changes to the Articles

WIBF has grown considerably in recent years with the number of both corporate and individual memberships increasing. To ensure WIBF continues to provide the services and membership benefits to meet and exceed the needs of its members, the board requires a degree of autonomy and flexibility to properly discharge its duties. The current articles of association (Articles) were drafted to follow the old constitution, with members retaining the right to vote on certain resolutions where resolutions were recommended by the executive board. Such occasions were infrequent.

Last year, WIBF incorporated and became subject to the regulation of Companies Act 2006 (CA06) which provides a stronger, more suitable corporate structure to support the organisation and its aims. This additional layer of regulation provides greater certainty and transparency in WIBF’s operations to our members and other stakeholders. With this in mind, it is proposed that corporate and individual memberships be re-classified as ‘non-voting’, removing the need for directors to obtain member consent prior to passing certain resolutions which will allow the directors to run WIBF as they see fit, and to ensure that resources are focussed on what is important to our members, i.e. continually developing and improving membership packages, events and workshops.

This change will not affect members’ entitlement to attend the AGM each year. The directors and the executive board recognise that the AGM is an important date in the WIBF calendar, where our members are given the chance to review yearly performance and ask questions of the executive board. Members are actively encouraged to provide feedback on events and WIBF’s membership offering generally, throughout the year, but the AGM provides an ideal platform for doing so.

This change will be put to the vote at the AGM. Please continue to check the website for additional information concerning these changes.”