Changes to FSC Articles of Association

Subject to agreement at the FSC Annual General Meeting on 7th July 2012, the FSC's Memorandum and Articles of Association will be updated from the previous version dated 19th July 2008.

These changes are in part to bring the charity’s articles in line with the Companies Act 2006 and to reflect more accurately modern ‘custom and practice’. Other than for numbering purposes the following remain unchanged:
• The charity’s name, “Field Studies Council” commonly referred to as ‘FSC’;
• Its status as a company limited by guarantee and not having share capital;
• Its charitable objects;
• Its powers (other than a minor simplification of wording and removal of duplicates);
• The beneficiaries of the Charity, including those in the event of dissolution;
• The declaration and treatment of conflicts of interest.

The principal changes relate to
• The combining of the Memorandum and Articles into a single Articles document as required under the Companies Act 2006;
• The restriction of the Charity’s liabilities to the trustees, though this remains limited to £1;
• The restriction of constitutional membership to the Trustees only;
• The ability to establish different classes of ‘informal membership’ and to describe their respective rights, privileges and duties and to set the amounts of any subscriptions;
• The removal of excessive operational detail to allow trustees to adapt the Charity’s management structure to most effectively deliver its objects, whilst retaining the full accountability of the trustees.

You can view the new Memorandum and Articles of Association, and compare it to the existing version dated 19th July 2008.  

Friday, June 22, 2012