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4th Annual General Meeting Sunday 14 October 2007 at Catania, Italy. The International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science N.B. Non ISCMNS members are welcome to attend. Chief Executive’s Report. Elections & Appointments Membership Finances Charity Looking forward to the future.
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4th Annual General MeetingSunday 14 October 2007at Catania, Italy The International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science N.B. Non ISCMNS members are welcome to attend.
Chief Executive’s Report • Elections & Appointments • Membership • Finances • Charity • Looking forward to the future
Situation 2007 • The following officers will retire on December 31st 2007 • Akito Takahashi (Hon. President) • Xingzhong Li (EC Chairman) • Yuri Bazhutov (ICCF13 Chairman)
3 Candidates forPresident and Chairman • Scott Chubb • Xingzhong Li • Francesco Celani • Elections were held by email in September • 51 votes were cast.
Election Results • 51 members voted. • 1 Abstention • 1 invalid vote • No false ID codes.
Election Results - President • Prof. Xingzhong Li 26 • Dr. Scott Chubb 9 • Dr. Francesco Celani 16
Election Results - Chairman • Dr. Scott Chubb 16 • Dr. Francesco Celani 33
New Appointment • Collis retired from EC at 31st December 2006 and did not seek re-election. • Became Chief Executive of the Society.
Membership • 180 members at 29 September 2007 • Up from 163 at 14 September 2006 • Membership lapses if you don’t pay dues!
Finances • 2006 2005 • Net Assets in Euros 13,308 7,367 • Income 18,029* 10,963 • Expenses 12,088# 5,237 • Surplus 5,941 5,726 * Includes $10,300 donation # ICCF12 & RCCNT13 expenses included.
PayPal Problems • ISCMNS currently maintains a non interest bearing credit with PayPal amounting to about €11,000! • PayPal have frozen this credit pending “verification” of the Society. • PayPal has failed to even attempt verification procedures.
ICCF-13 Proceedings The Executive Committe today unamimously decided to subsidize publicaton of ICCF-13 proceedings by $3,000 sufficient to allow printing of 300 copies of 1,000 pages. Donations sollecited to allow possible publication by World Scientific (Singapore).
Looking to the future (2006) • As a Charity we will raise funds from the public. • Becoming a Charity is an opportunity for publicity. • Changes in Company Law may come into effect in 2007-8 and ISCMNS may wish to amend its constitution (again!) to take advantage.
ISCMNS is now a UK Charity! • Status recognized by HM Revenue Customs UK Charity Commissioners. • No fees paid! • ISCMNS can now receive donations in the UK (and USA thanks to Steve Krivit) with tax benefits to donors. • The society should pay little or no income tax.
Regulation & Bureaucracy • The major bodies regulating ISCMNS are:- • Companies House • Charity Commission • HM Revenue & Customs
Eliminating Duplication • As from 2008 it will be possible to form Charitable Incorporated Organizations (CIO) which no longer need to register with Companies House. • This saves paying fees and filling in forms!
Conversion Procedure • Draft a new constitution. • Members approve the constitution. • File documents. Set up new CIO • Transfer assets. • Dissolve the old ISCMNS company.
Your input required • We are in no hurry to make any changes so we have time for extended discussion. • Do you have ideas for changes to the constitution? (Example election procedures, Executive Committee).
Looking forward to the future • ISCMNS raises most of it funds by “commercial” activities like organizing conferences not from membership fees. • Commerce is OK up to about $100,000 • Anything “risky” should be done by a separate company.
Collaborative Research • ISCMNS has had tentative contacts with groups interested in forming international research projects. • This comes under the definition of “risky”! • So prudence will dictate that any such activities must be carried out by a fully owned subsidiary. • FP7 presentations on Monday
Why should ISCMNS get involved? • The ISCMNS mission is to promote Cold Fusion! • EU consortia need at least 3 partners from different countries. ISCMNS is British. • EU grants pay a larger % of expenses to non profit organizations. • ISCMNS members could participate even if they are not EU citizens through ISCMNS.
What about taxes? • Of course the subsidiary company must pay tax in the normal way • However a UK subsidiary of a Charity can eliminate its entire tax liability by making a “donation” to its parent (or any Charity). • Care needs to be taken to retain working capital in the subsidiary.