IPCRG ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2010
Final Approved Minutes
Wednesday 2nd June 2010
16.15 – 17.45
Room: Piers 7/8
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel,
1 Harbour Square, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 1A6
Chair: John Haughney (JH)
Present: Ron Tomlins (RT), Siân Williams (SW), Samantha Louw (SL)
Ordinary Member Representatives:
Australia:
H. John Fardy
Bangladesh:
Monsur Habib
Canada:
Alan Kaplan
Denmark:
Marianne Stubbe Ostergaard
Greece:
Dimitrios Giannopolous
Netherlands:
Ivo Smeele
Norway:
Anders Ostrem
Pakistan:
Osman Yusuf
Spain:
Miguel Roman
Sweden:
Bjorn Stallberg
UK:
Dermot Ryan
Other persons in attendance: Hilary Pinnock (HP), Svein Henrichsen (SHH), Karin Lisspers (KL), Kerstin
Romberg (KR), David Costa (DC), Nicholas Glasgow (NG), David Price (DP), Alan Crockett (AC), Tan Tze
Lee (TTL), Hakan Yaman (HY), Thys van der Molen (TvdM), Ioanna Tsiligianni (IT), Catalina Panaitescu
(CP), Andrew Cave (AC1), Arnulf Langhammer (AL), Bharat Khezi (BK), Carlos Gonçalves (CG), Monsur
Habib (MH), Naren Pandey (NP), Rowshan Alam (RS)
1. Welcome and apologies
JH opened the meeting at 16.15 and confirmed that our voting members were those present who had been
allocated flags but contribution to the discussion welcome from everyone present.
Apologies were noted from New Zealand.
2. Approval of minutes from last AGM
No comments, agreed that they were a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Canada proposed to adopt, Norway seconded. Approved unanimously.
3. President’s Report and Executive Officer’s Report
JH highlighted elements of the directors’ annual report and informed members of our development over
the last 12 months. Full annual report available as part of our Accounts to 31st December 2009 –
http://www.theipcrg.org/about/reports.php
JH thanked his co-directors, sub committee chairs, SW and SL for their work over that last year and
also the six associate corporate members for 2009.
SW highlighted areas of success over the last 12 months
4. Finance Report
RT reported on our finances, noted our final accounts to 31st December 2009, recommended the
adoption of Scott Moncrieff as our Auditors for 2010 and confirmed his willingness to stand as
Treasurer for a further 12 months. JH asked for any questions; none raised.
A copy of the report is appended for information.
5. Appointment and remuneration of Auditors: Scott Moncrieff
JH recommended that the current auditors Scott Moncreiff be appointed on the condition that the
remuneration did not exceed £7,500 per annum.
Australia proposed to adopt, Canada seconded. Approved unanimously.
6. Subscriptions for 2011
SW proposed that in line with the policy to update subscriptions every 3 years the subscriptions for
2011 should remain as per the 2009/2010 rates: Ordinary members zero and Associate Corporate
Members Euro 35,000.
Sweden proposed to adopt, Norway seconded. Approved unanimously.
SW thanked our corporate associate members of 2010: Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Merck & Co,
Mundipharma, Novartis, Pfizer, Teva and Vitalograph.
7. Election of Treasurer: The current Treasurer, Associate Professor Ron Tomlins, is eligible
for re-election.
JH requested any other nominations for Treasurer, none were received.
Australia proposed that Ron Tomlins be re-elected, Bangladesh seconded. Approved unanimously.
The attendees at the AGM expressed their gratitude to Ron Tomlins for standing for the role of
Treasurer again and thanked him for all his work to date.
8. Special resolution: Amendments to our Memorandum and Articles of Association
SW reported that the special resolution covered technical matters regarding the re-numbering of
sections and changes to bring into line with changes in Scottish legislation and updating wording about
decisions relating to international conferences. The purpose is to allow a degree of freedom and more
flexibility to arrange conferences as we see fit. SW asked for any questions; none raised.
Norway proposed to adopt; Bangladesh seconded. Approved unanimously.
9. Review of Membership
1. Members: there are no associate members applying for Ordinary Membership
2. Associate Members: corporate – discussed under item 6. Thanks noted to
Mundipharma for their support in funding a bursary scheme to allow a number of
delegates from additional countries to attend the conference.
3. Associate Members: Invited specialists – none proposed
4. Associate Members: Invited international organisations – none proposed
10. Matters arising from minutes not covered elsewhere on agenda
None reported.
11. Date of Next AGM
Thursday 2nd June 2010, Amsterdam, Netherlands
John Haughney stood down as President and handed over to the incoming President Miguel Roman..
MR voiced his thanks to JH for his work and support during his term as President and also to Alan
Kaplan for his work in ensuring the success of our 5th World conference.
For information only:
Treasurer’s Report
I am pleased to be able to present to you the audited accounts for the financial year January to
December 2009 which were distributed with the papers for this meeting.
I am delighted to report that 2009 has been a successful year financially for IPCRG, with a surplus of
income over expenditure for the year, shown on page 11, of £44,145. While this is less than the
previous year because 2008 was a biennial conference year, it is a gratifying result.
There are four issues that I would like to highlight.
The first is the impact of currency fluctuations arising from the global financial crisis. For the last 3
years, the accounts have been adjusted because the IPCRG has bank accounts in both euro and Great
British pounds. For accounting and reporting purposes, we are required to convert the totals in euro
accounts to pounds at the end of the accounting period. As a result of international currency
adjustments devaluing the euro against the pound, there has been an unrealised exchange loss in
2009 of £32,500. In the last 2 years we noted accounting gains, but recognised that currency
adjustments could lead to a loss in future years. It is important to understand that this adjustment does
not crystallise into an actual loss to IPCRG unless or until euro funds are converted into pounds.
The second issue is the measures that your Board has taken to maximise operational efficiency
and actively managing risk. During the second half of 2009, the Board met by teleconference
monthly so that Directors could deal with issues more expeditiously. We continued to regularly review
our policies and processes to assess our current exposure to risk. We ensured that the biennial
conference and our growing research portfolio have robust risk management plans. We reviewed
contractor and voluntary roles, recruitment and our reward structure to ensure the IPCRG is sustainable
and well governed. In this regard, I wish to once more acknowledge the contribution of the Governance
Committee – a group of people with expertise in governance of charitable organisations and financial
management who are forthright in expressing their opinions.
The members of the committee are:
 The Treasurer (Ron Tomlins) as Chair
 Mr Alasdair Norton
 Ms Barbara Varney
 Mr Simon Glass
 Mr Geoff Williams (Observer)
The reserve policy of the IPCRG is to establish a designated or reserve fund that would enable the
organisation to continue running in the event of a catastrophe or permit the orderly closure of the
organisation over several months with a minimum loss of reputation. Our risk management strategy
identifies the biennial conference as our single most important exposure to financial risk, although we
are confident that the Toronto conference will be successful. The directors, on advice from the
Governance Committee, review the level of reserves regularly. We estimate this will take some years
to achieve the desired level of reserves. A specific reserve fund has been established which has a
current balance of £142,170.
The third issue that I would like to reiterate is the well established IPCRG policy on budgeting.
In short, we budget to spend no more than our anticipated income for that year, we do not spend
money on activities before we have received it, and we apportion the costs of secretarial and
management support across all activities.
Fourthly, the IPCRG’s principal funding sources are membership subscriptions from associate
corporate members, and grants for projects. We had six associate corporate members in 2009 and
I would like to reiterate John’s thanks to them for their continued support. The level of subscriptions is
set at the AGM and is traditionally adjusted at 3 yearly intervals, the last in 2008. Accordingly, I will be
recommending that the subscription for associate corporate members will remain at 35,000 euro for
2010.
The statement of financial activities describes how our funds were spent in 2009. Our new auditors,
Scott Moncrieff, have audited and prepared the IPCRG statutory accounts reported on page 10 that, in
their opinion:
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The financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31
December 2009;
The financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom
Generally Accepted Accounting Practice;
The financial statements have been properly prepared in legislation; and
The information given in the Directors’ Report is consistent with the financial statements.
The Board have adopted the accounts for the 2009 financial year, as required by law. I comment this
report to you. I will be recommending the reappointment of Scott Moncrieff as the auditors for 2010 at a
cost not exceeding £7,500.
The development of IPCRG over the past 10 years, and its acceptance, has been extraordinary and
reflects the willing enthusiasm of many people. We are contributing to emerging activities in Asia and
South America, and expect to see further progress in those regions in the next few years. However, if
we are to remain relevant, we must continually explore opportunities to expand our influence and the
range of services we provide.
Finally, Mr President, I wish to indicate my willingness to continue to serve as Treasurer for a further 12
months, if that should be the wish of the meeting.
Dr Ron Tomlins
Treasurer