Effects of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014

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1 Effects of the The comes into force on 1 August. The Act consolidates a number of Acts and Statutory Instruments relating to co-operative societies, community benefit societies and other societies registered under the. It therefore has important implications for references to the Acts and the Friendly and in your manual. These references need to change for documents. The effect on your FIPS manual We are currently working on an update to your manual, which is scheduled to be issued in autumn. Ahead of issuing the full update we have summarised the changes to the legislative references needed to engagement letters and reports in your manual below. The changes do not affect Friendly Societies, therefore references to the Friendly Societies Act 1974 will not change. Effective date These changes are effective for documents. They are not linked to an accounting period date. The legislation affecting accounts, audit and annual returns can be found in Part 7 of the new Act. A brief history Changes to legislation affecting industrial and provident societies (I & P societies) have been expected for some time. You may recall the Co-Operative and Credit Unions Act 2010 (CCBSCU 2010) (see chapter 8 of the guidance notes in your manual), which was passed in March The Act made provision for societies to be registered as co-operative or community benefit societies and to re-name the Acts. The sector had been waiting for the final provisions of this Act to be brought into law, which would re-name the Acts. Key provisions of this Act affecting I & P societies have now been consolidated into the Co-operative and Community (CCBSA 14), along with the 1965, 1967, 1975, 1978 and 2002 Acts, the Friendly and and the Co-operatives Act 2003, all of which have been repealed and replaced by the new Act. Note that the Credit Unions Act 1979 has not been included in this consolidation. As can be seen, rather than simply re-name the Acts, a wider legislative consolidation has been undertaken. Jurisdiction The new legislation affects the law in England and Wales and in Scotland. The consolidation does not include the corresponding legislation in Northern Ireland, which is separate from that in Great Britain.

2 Other changes As it is consolidating legislation the new Act does not bring about substantive change. Its aim is to reproduce the effect of the existing legislation but to bring the law together in a more logical, accessible, clear and modern form. The language used has been updated and simplified where possible. There are, however, some changes from CCBSCU 2010 that were implemented earlier in that are now included in the new Act. You will therefore notice changes that: raise the limit on the amount of withdrawable share capital that a registered society may hold apply, with modifications, the provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986 for company voluntary arrangements and administration (NB. This does not apply to Registered Social Housing Providers.) apply, with modifications, Part 14 of the Companies Act 1985 relating to investigations, and allow for the electronic submission of registration documents to the Financial Conduct Authority as Registrar.

3 Changes to documents in the Mercia Friendly and (FIPS) Specialist Assignment Manual The new references indicated below are as a result of the introduction of the. They take effect for documents and will be formally incorporated into your manual in the next update. Where a document is issued on or after this date please change the existing references in the document issued as stated below. Document in your manual Existing reference New reference for documents Throughout the manual, including sections B and C Section B - Example letters Industrial and Provident Society Industrial and Provident Society registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Registered society Registered society under the Cooperative and Community Benefit Societies 1 Englet - I&P society audit Section 9 of the Friendly and Section 87 of the Co-operative 3 Englet - I&P society reporting acct Provident Societies (FIPSA 68) (CCBSA 14) section 4A of FIPSA 68 section 84 of CCBSA 14 section 4A(3) of FIPSA 68 section 84(3) of CCBSA 14, where the bullet points can be simplified to: a credit union; a subsidiary; a society that has a subsidiary; a society that holds a deposit or has at any time since the end of the preceding year of account held a deposit (other than a deposit in the form of withdrawable share capital); or registered in the register of social landlords maintained under section 20(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act section 9A(3)(4) FIPSA 68 section 85(2) of CCBSA 14 section 1 FIPSA 68 section 75 of CCBSA 14

4 Document in your manual Existing reference New reference for documents Section B - Example letters 3 Englet - I&P society reporting acct FIPSA 68 CCBSA 14 5 Englet - Totally exempt (I&P & Other Society) Provident Societies (FIPSA 68) (CCBSA 14) section 4A of FIPSA 68 section 84 of CCBSA 14 section 9A of FIPSA 68 section 85 of CCBSA 14 FIPSA 68 CCBSA 14 section 4A(3) of FIPSA 68 section 84(3) of CCBSA 14, where the bullet points can be simplified to: a credit union; a subsidiary; a society that has a subsidiary; a society that holds a deposit or has at any time since the end of the preceding year of account held a deposit (other than a deposit in the form of withdrawable share capital); or registered in the register of social landlords maintained under section 20(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act Englet - Credit Union audit This letter will be withdrawn from the manual in the next update. Section C - Example reports 1 Audit I&P society section 9 of the Friendly and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 2002 section 87 of the Co-operative

5 Document in your manual Existing reference New reference for documents Section C - Example reports 3 Reporting acct report - I&P society section 1 of the Friendly and section 4A(1) of the Friendly and section 75 of the Co-operative section 84 of the Co-operative 5 Audit - Credit Union This report will be withdrawn from the manual in the next update. References to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should be updated to refer to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Mercia Group Ltd July Disclaimer - for information of users This summary is only an overview of the legislation and guidance issued at the date of publication. No action should be taken without consulting the relevant legislation and guidance or where necessary, seeking professional advice. Therefore no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material contained in this summary can be accepted by the authors or the company.