ACCA faces egm demands
By Lucinda Kemeny (Accountancy Age 21 October 1999, page 8)

More than 100 ACCA members are set to demand an emergency general meeting to question the associations corporate governance procedures in the wake of a high-profile disciplinary case.

A letter is currently being prepared by former council member Anthony Thomas that will be sent to Lincoln's Inn Field at the end of the month.

ACCA will then have to hold the meeting within three months.

Thomas has been canvassing names following the handling of the Robert Jackson disciplinary case and the subsequent removal of president elect Ray Gardiner on the day he was to be voted in.

He said: 'I have managed to get over 100 signatures so now it is question of writing to members and the ACCA.  A letter is now being cleared by lawyers'.

The egm will look at several issues including the use of proxy voting in the election of council and the length of time staff are allowed to remain on council.

It will also seek to establish what controls are in place to monitor the role of the chief executive.

Chief executive Anthea Rose expressed her disappointment at the move to force an egm, which will cost the association around £80,000.

'We have had two egms, in 1995 and 1996, and the second covered a whole range of issues including the role of officers and the chief executive', she said.

'Members have already voted on this and it seems a pity to be raising issues that members have voted on already.'

The call for an egm is being backed by Anthony Cruse, who recently resigned from his seat on council over ACCA' appointment of insolvency lawyer Michael Steiner to conduct an independent re-view of the Jackson case.