Official 2010 merger plans

[actuary21c]

Initial details (there will probably be some changes following further comments on the draft Charter and other documents) of these were unveiled at the weekend via an eAlert to Institute and Faculty members and are on the merger microsite (www.actuarialmerger.com):
From this page (NB member login required for the links within the text, apart from the email links):

Separate Special General Meetings of the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland and the Institute of Actuaries will be held at 1700 on Tuesday 25 May 2010 to vote on separate Resolutions to form the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

The key elements of the merger package include:

* a proposal to call a merged body 'the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries'
* revised governance documents reflecting the input from the member consultation
* a proposal for both existing and new members to use the existing letters FIA, FFA, AIA and AFA
* a proposal to continue using 'the Actuarial Profession' for all external branding.

A joint proposal by the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland and the Institute of Actuaries to form the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries can be found here. The proposal includes details of the merger package, including the legal structure and governance; the proposed first Council; and information on subscriptions and fees.

The latest draft of the governance documents, revised in light of helpful input from members during last October's consultation, is here. To ensure we capture as wide a view as possible, if you do have any further comments please send them to govcon@actuaries.org.uk. The deadline for receipt of any comments is 1700GMT on Friday 26 March 2010. This will enable the Profession to produce a final version of the governance documents for inclusion in the voting materials which will be dispatched to eligible members in mid-April.

As part of our commitment to ensuring all members have access to any relevant merger-related communications, and that any merger-related communications are delivered in an appropriate, balanced and timely manner, we invite groups of 10 or more members to create an identified group to present their views of the merger to the membership. You can find more information about this here.

We will use the Profession's existing communication vehicles (eg The Actuary, website and e-newsletters) to manage the volume of merger-related information so you can choose when and how to access this information. In March the business case for a merger, produced by the Joint Councils, and information about any identified groups will be published. In April, if you are eligible to vote, you will be sent voting materials by Electoral Reform Services.

If you would like to contribute to the online discussion on the merger, please visit the merger discussion forum. You can request a reminder of your password or a copy of the activation email via the discussion forum or by sending an email to merger@actuaries.org.uk. You can pose questions on the discussion forum or by email to merger@actuaries.org.uk. You can find more details about the merger on the Profession's website or the merger microsite.

[actuary21c]

My initial views (bear in mind that I still have to study the latest revised draft Charter) are:

• The new name ("Institute and Faculty") is a big improvement over the "Chartered Actuarial Profession" in the 2009 proposal
• The draft governing documentation seems to broadly preserve members' rights, although there are a few areas where more work still needs to be done to achieve Councils' stated aim of maintaining the balance between members and Councils as far as possible
• It is good that the Institute is not being wound-up in the 2010 proposals (it was in the 2009 ones). I am not yet convinced that it is necessary to wind up the Faculty which could be kept in a significantly reduced form as a Regional Society, in case of a future need by an independent (or more fully devolved) Scotland.
• David Wilkie has an interesting alternative proposal that I and others will probably be supporting as part of Councils' process for groups of 10 or more members to suggest alternatives (more about this soon)
• Overall, I am pleased that the process involves much more consultation than it did last year, and very much welcome this from Councils.

[actuary21c]

Originally Posted by actuary21c

...

• David Wilkie has an interesting alternative proposal that I and others will probably be supporting as part of Councils' process for groups of 10 or more members to suggest alternatives (more about this soon)
  ...

I can confirm that 12 FIDELIS members (including David Wilkie and me) submitted an alternative proposal entitled "Unification: better than Merger" to the Institute and Faculty today. More in due course...

[actuary21c]

Originally Posted by actuary21c

I can confirm that 12 FIDELIS members (including David Wilkie and me) submitted an alternative proposal entitled "Unification: better than Merger" to the Institute and Faculty today. More in due course...

Please see this thread on the AO for details of the Unification proposal.