ECF Finance Meeting 2021 on 24th April 2021
Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 3:50 pm
Hi all
it's is the wonderful time of year for the ECF Finance meeting on the 24th April 2021 at 1:30pm on Zoom
the main talking points are this
Council is asked to consider, and if thought fit, approve a resolution setting membership and
other fees for 2021-22:
THAT ECF membership fees for direct members and member organisations and that game
fees remain unchanged from 2020-21 as shown in this table:
2021/22 (£)
Platinum 75.00
Junior Platinum 75.00
Gold 39.00
Junior Gold 19.50
Silver 27.00
Silver Junior 6.00
Bronze 18.00
Bronze Junior 6.00
FIDE Rated Events 11.00
Congress Pay to Play 9.00
Congress Pay to Play Junior 2.50
Non-Members Game Fee 18.00
Non-Members Game Fee Junior 6.00
Member Organisations 64.00
and also these as well
Voting Register
A Special Resolution proposed by the Governance Committee concerning the 2021-22
Voting Register [C34.10-12]
THAT the articles of association of the Company be amended by inserting the following
wording at the end of article 22: “The register to be published in 2021 shall be produced on
the basis that the number of votes of a member for the purposes of Article 30(1) shall be
equal to the highest of (a) the votes it would have if the voting register were prepared without
having regard to this sentence, (b) the votes it has in the September 2020 voting register and
(c) the votes it has in the September 2019 voting register, and any poll under Article 26 shall
be conducted accordingly”.
Note: As this is a Special Resolution the wording may not be amended by the Council and a
75% vote in favour is required for it to be passed
11 Proposals from the Governance Committee on Directors’ Tenure of Office
Following discussions prior to last year’s AGM as to the maximum length of a director’s
tenure of office, the Governance Committee has consulted with Council members and
developed some proposals. When consulting, the Committee found general agreement that,
if limitations are to be introduced, then they should be consistent with elections being spread
over a three year cycle. It was also clear that Council members thought it appropriate to
make any limitation only apply to service in a particular directorship. There was a wider
range of views on the number of terms that should be considered as a maximum. The
Governance Committee is bringing forward three Special Resolutions for consideration,
namely that a director cannot stand for re-election to a post at an AGM, having just
occupied that post:
( A ) for a period longer than one three year term;
( B ) for a period of two consecutive three year terms or longer
( C ) for a period of three consecutive three year terms or longer
Further details of the resolutions are included in the Governance Committee’s paper
[C34.10-12].
The procedure to be adopted is that a vote will be taken on each of these three motions at the
end of discussion. Council members MAY (and should) vote on each resolution. The
resolution to be passed will be the one that achieves the highest percentage vote of votes cast,
provided this meets the 75% required for a Special Resolution. This procedure has been
adopted as it is not possible to amend the special resolutions in the meeting.
Special Resolution C34.11 A
THAT, subject to the condition below, the existing wording of Article 60 be deleted and
replaced with: “Any Director who retires at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article
59 shall not be eligible for re-election at such Annual General Meeting to the same (or
substantially similar) Board Position if the Director has then just completed a continuous
period of office in such same (or substantially similar) Board Position of longer than one
three year term. Any such Director shall be eligible for appointment to the same (or
Page 3 of 7
Agenda for Finance Council Meeting, 24 April 2021 [C34]
substantially similar) Board Position pursuant to Article 57, but shall not be eligible to stand
for election to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position until the Annual General
Meeting in the third year after the year in which the relevant Director was ineligible for reelection. For the purposes of Article 60, a “three year term” shall mean the time period
between an Annual General Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held in the third next
succeeding calendar year”. Even if passed by the requisite majority, this resolution shall only
take effect if the ratio between votes in favour and votes against is greater than the equivalent
ratio for each of Resolution (B) below and Resolution (C) below and in the event of ratios
being identical a casting vote of the Chairman shall decide which resolution shall take effect.
Special Resolution C34.11 B
THAT, subject to the condition below, the existing wording of Article 60 be deleted and
replaced with: “Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 57, any Director who retires
at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall not be eligible for re-election at
such Annual General Meeting to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position if the
Director has then just completed a continuous period of office in such same (or substantially
similar) Board Position of two consecutive three year terms or longer. Any such Director
shall be eligible for appointment to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position
pursuant to Article 57, but shall not be eligible to stand for election to the same (or
substantially similar) Board Position until the Annual General Meeting in the third year after
the year in which the relevant Director was ineligible for re-election. For the purposes of
Article 60, a “three year term” shall mean the time period between an Annual General
Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held in the third next succeeding calendar year”.
Even if passed by the requisite majority, this resolution shall only take effect if the ratio
between votes in favour and votes against is greater than the equivalent ratio for each of
Resolution (A) above and Resolution (C) below and in the event of ratios being identical a
casting vote of the Chairman shall decide which resolution shall take effect.
Special Resolution C34.11 C
THAT, subject to the condition below, the existing wording of Article 60 be deleted and
replaced with: “Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 57, any Director who retires
at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall not be eligible for re-election at
such Annual General Meeting to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position if the
Director has then just completed a continuous period of office in such same (or substantially
similar) Board Position of three consecutive three year terms or longer. Any such Director
shall be eligible for appointment to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position
pursuant to Article 57, but shall not be eligible to stand for election to the same (or
substantially similar) Board Position until the Annual General Meeting in the third year after
the year in which the relevant Director was ineligible for re-election .For the purposes of
Article 60, a “three year term” shall mean the time period between an Annual General
Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held in the third next succeeding calendar year”.
Even if passed by the requisite majority, this resolution shall only take effect if the ratio
between votes in favour and votes against is greater than the equivalent ratio for Resolution
(A) above and Resolution (B) above and in the event of ratios being identical a casting vote
of the Chairman shall decide which resolution shall take effect.
Page 4 of 7
Agenda for Finance Council Meeting, 24 April 2021 [C34]
12 Voting Allocations of Council Members
Council is invited to consider and, if thought fit, approve a Special Resolution proposed by
the Board concerning changes to the Voting allocations to Council Members:
“THAT the articles of association of the Company be amended by:
(a) inserting (in the appropriate place alphabetically) in article 1.1 the following definitions:
“Blitz Game” means a game where all the moves must be completed in a fixed time of not
fewer than three minutes but not more than 10 minutes for each player or the allotted time
plus 60 times any increment is not fewer than three minutes but not more than 10 minutes
for each player;”
“Rapidplay Game” means a game where all the moves must be completed in a fixed time of
more than 10 minutes but less than 60 minutes for each player or the allotted time plus 60
times any increment is more than 10 minutes but less than 60 minutes for each player;
“Standardplay Game” means a game where each player is allotted more time than the
maximum time for a Rapidplay Game;
(b) deleting the final sentence of article 31 and replacing it with the following wording; “For
these purposes, each rated game played shall give rise to two entries (one for each player)
and an over the board Standardplay Game entry shall constitute one game unit, an over the
board Rapidplay Game entry half a game unit, an over the board Blitz Game entry one sixth
of a game unit, an online Standardplay Game entry half a game unit, an online Rapidplay
Game entry one quarter of a game unit and an online Blitz Game entry one twelfth of a game
unit. If in any period (as referred to in this article 31) the aggregate amount of game units of
full Members attributable to online games (including pursuant to assignment under article 32)
exceeds half of the aggregate number of game units of Full Members attributable to over the
board games (including pursuant to assignment under Article 32) then, for the purposes of
calculating voting entitlements under Article 30(1), the value of the game units deriving from
online games attributable to Full Members shall be proportionately reduced to the extent
necessary to ensure that the limit is not exceeded. By way of exception to the foregoing, for
the period ending 30th June 2021 the preceding sentence shall be applied as if there were
inserted after the words “game units of Full Members attributable to over the board games
(including pursuant to assignment under Article 32)” the words “in the period ended 30th
June 2019”;
(c) replacing all references in the articles of association to “grading” and “graded” with
“rating” and “rated” respectively;”
Note: As this is a Special Resolution the wording may not be amended by the Council and a
75% vote in favour is required for it to be passed. The Governance Committee discusses the
motion in its paper [C34.10-12]
County Championship, 2021 proposals will be mention on the other section of the forum
it's is the wonderful time of year for the ECF Finance meeting on the 24th April 2021 at 1:30pm on Zoom
the main talking points are this
Council is asked to consider, and if thought fit, approve a resolution setting membership and
other fees for 2021-22:
THAT ECF membership fees for direct members and member organisations and that game
fees remain unchanged from 2020-21 as shown in this table:
2021/22 (£)
Platinum 75.00
Junior Platinum 75.00
Gold 39.00
Junior Gold 19.50
Silver 27.00
Silver Junior 6.00
Bronze 18.00
Bronze Junior 6.00
FIDE Rated Events 11.00
Congress Pay to Play 9.00
Congress Pay to Play Junior 2.50
Non-Members Game Fee 18.00
Non-Members Game Fee Junior 6.00
Member Organisations 64.00
and also these as well
Voting Register
A Special Resolution proposed by the Governance Committee concerning the 2021-22
Voting Register [C34.10-12]
THAT the articles of association of the Company be amended by inserting the following
wording at the end of article 22: “The register to be published in 2021 shall be produced on
the basis that the number of votes of a member for the purposes of Article 30(1) shall be
equal to the highest of (a) the votes it would have if the voting register were prepared without
having regard to this sentence, (b) the votes it has in the September 2020 voting register and
(c) the votes it has in the September 2019 voting register, and any poll under Article 26 shall
be conducted accordingly”.
Note: As this is a Special Resolution the wording may not be amended by the Council and a
75% vote in favour is required for it to be passed
11 Proposals from the Governance Committee on Directors’ Tenure of Office
Following discussions prior to last year’s AGM as to the maximum length of a director’s
tenure of office, the Governance Committee has consulted with Council members and
developed some proposals. When consulting, the Committee found general agreement that,
if limitations are to be introduced, then they should be consistent with elections being spread
over a three year cycle. It was also clear that Council members thought it appropriate to
make any limitation only apply to service in a particular directorship. There was a wider
range of views on the number of terms that should be considered as a maximum. The
Governance Committee is bringing forward three Special Resolutions for consideration,
namely that a director cannot stand for re-election to a post at an AGM, having just
occupied that post:
( A ) for a period longer than one three year term;
( B ) for a period of two consecutive three year terms or longer
( C ) for a period of three consecutive three year terms or longer
Further details of the resolutions are included in the Governance Committee’s paper
[C34.10-12].
The procedure to be adopted is that a vote will be taken on each of these three motions at the
end of discussion. Council members MAY (and should) vote on each resolution. The
resolution to be passed will be the one that achieves the highest percentage vote of votes cast,
provided this meets the 75% required for a Special Resolution. This procedure has been
adopted as it is not possible to amend the special resolutions in the meeting.
Special Resolution C34.11 A
THAT, subject to the condition below, the existing wording of Article 60 be deleted and
replaced with: “Any Director who retires at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article
59 shall not be eligible for re-election at such Annual General Meeting to the same (or
substantially similar) Board Position if the Director has then just completed a continuous
period of office in such same (or substantially similar) Board Position of longer than one
three year term. Any such Director shall be eligible for appointment to the same (or
Page 3 of 7
Agenda for Finance Council Meeting, 24 April 2021 [C34]
substantially similar) Board Position pursuant to Article 57, but shall not be eligible to stand
for election to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position until the Annual General
Meeting in the third year after the year in which the relevant Director was ineligible for reelection. For the purposes of Article 60, a “three year term” shall mean the time period
between an Annual General Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held in the third next
succeeding calendar year”. Even if passed by the requisite majority, this resolution shall only
take effect if the ratio between votes in favour and votes against is greater than the equivalent
ratio for each of Resolution (B) below and Resolution (C) below and in the event of ratios
being identical a casting vote of the Chairman shall decide which resolution shall take effect.
Special Resolution C34.11 B
THAT, subject to the condition below, the existing wording of Article 60 be deleted and
replaced with: “Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 57, any Director who retires
at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall not be eligible for re-election at
such Annual General Meeting to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position if the
Director has then just completed a continuous period of office in such same (or substantially
similar) Board Position of two consecutive three year terms or longer. Any such Director
shall be eligible for appointment to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position
pursuant to Article 57, but shall not be eligible to stand for election to the same (or
substantially similar) Board Position until the Annual General Meeting in the third year after
the year in which the relevant Director was ineligible for re-election. For the purposes of
Article 60, a “three year term” shall mean the time period between an Annual General
Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held in the third next succeeding calendar year”.
Even if passed by the requisite majority, this resolution shall only take effect if the ratio
between votes in favour and votes against is greater than the equivalent ratio for each of
Resolution (A) above and Resolution (C) below and in the event of ratios being identical a
casting vote of the Chairman shall decide which resolution shall take effect.
Special Resolution C34.11 C
THAT, subject to the condition below, the existing wording of Article 60 be deleted and
replaced with: “Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 57, any Director who retires
at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall not be eligible for re-election at
such Annual General Meeting to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position if the
Director has then just completed a continuous period of office in such same (or substantially
similar) Board Position of three consecutive three year terms or longer. Any such Director
shall be eligible for appointment to the same (or substantially similar) Board Position
pursuant to Article 57, but shall not be eligible to stand for election to the same (or
substantially similar) Board Position until the Annual General Meeting in the third year after
the year in which the relevant Director was ineligible for re-election .For the purposes of
Article 60, a “three year term” shall mean the time period between an Annual General
Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held in the third next succeeding calendar year”.
Even if passed by the requisite majority, this resolution shall only take effect if the ratio
between votes in favour and votes against is greater than the equivalent ratio for Resolution
(A) above and Resolution (B) above and in the event of ratios being identical a casting vote
of the Chairman shall decide which resolution shall take effect.
Page 4 of 7
Agenda for Finance Council Meeting, 24 April 2021 [C34]
12 Voting Allocations of Council Members
Council is invited to consider and, if thought fit, approve a Special Resolution proposed by
the Board concerning changes to the Voting allocations to Council Members:
“THAT the articles of association of the Company be amended by:
(a) inserting (in the appropriate place alphabetically) in article 1.1 the following definitions:
“Blitz Game” means a game where all the moves must be completed in a fixed time of not
fewer than three minutes but not more than 10 minutes for each player or the allotted time
plus 60 times any increment is not fewer than three minutes but not more than 10 minutes
for each player;”
“Rapidplay Game” means a game where all the moves must be completed in a fixed time of
more than 10 minutes but less than 60 minutes for each player or the allotted time plus 60
times any increment is more than 10 minutes but less than 60 minutes for each player;
“Standardplay Game” means a game where each player is allotted more time than the
maximum time for a Rapidplay Game;
(b) deleting the final sentence of article 31 and replacing it with the following wording; “For
these purposes, each rated game played shall give rise to two entries (one for each player)
and an over the board Standardplay Game entry shall constitute one game unit, an over the
board Rapidplay Game entry half a game unit, an over the board Blitz Game entry one sixth
of a game unit, an online Standardplay Game entry half a game unit, an online Rapidplay
Game entry one quarter of a game unit and an online Blitz Game entry one twelfth of a game
unit. If in any period (as referred to in this article 31) the aggregate amount of game units of
full Members attributable to online games (including pursuant to assignment under article 32)
exceeds half of the aggregate number of game units of Full Members attributable to over the
board games (including pursuant to assignment under Article 32) then, for the purposes of
calculating voting entitlements under Article 30(1), the value of the game units deriving from
online games attributable to Full Members shall be proportionately reduced to the extent
necessary to ensure that the limit is not exceeded. By way of exception to the foregoing, for
the period ending 30th June 2021 the preceding sentence shall be applied as if there were
inserted after the words “game units of Full Members attributable to over the board games
(including pursuant to assignment under Article 32)” the words “in the period ended 30th
June 2019”;
(c) replacing all references in the articles of association to “grading” and “graded” with
“rating” and “rated” respectively;”
Note: As this is a Special Resolution the wording may not be amended by the Council and a
75% vote in favour is required for it to be passed. The Governance Committee discusses the
motion in its paper [C34.10-12]
County Championship, 2021 proposals will be mention on the other section of the forum