A Charities Round-Up: Current Legal And Governance Stories And Developments

We bring you a brief round-up on some charity sector stories and developments.

"A rose by any other name... [might not be permissible]" New rules on SCIO names

Since 1 January 2018, Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs) appear in the (Companies House) Registrar's Index of Company Names. Charities that are incorporated as companies already appear on the index.

SCIOs appearing on this index is, we think, a good thing. It further supports SCIO transparency and helps protect names. On the latter it does not remove the need for charities to consider steps to secure, utilise and protect intellectual property.

With this development, certain 'sensitive' words require additional process (involving new interaction with Companies House by applicant charities) and thought before they can be used for a SCIO.

Importantly, this is about names. This does not bring SCIOs into the company law regime or the need to report/file with Companies House.

We have real experience of what the new rules mean for SCIO establishment and can help you settle on the right name and navigate the new process and requirements.

A song and dance at the Royal Albert Hall? The proper management of conflicts of interest

There have been a number of reports about the Royal Albert Hall being referred to the Charity Tribunal by the Attorney-General as a result of certain governance concerns raised by the Charity Commission.

The key issue, it is understood, relates to potential conflicts of interest arising from 19 of the 24 trustees or members of council being elected from among people who own a quarter of the Hall's seats and, importantly, can sell complimentary tickets for, according to BBC reports, "considerable profit" for themselves.

We shall see what the Charity Tribunal considers and decides after the Attorney-General's referral. The issue of conflict of interest leads, in this case, to considerations of the appropriateness of the Hall's constitution. A possible example of the benefits of reviewing and then considering and making changes (if merited) to a constitution before regulatory involvement.

With conflict of interest management and governance, it is important that trustees and others consider the legislative provisions about conflicts (they might not be what you think) as well as the conflict provisions set out in the constitution. For some charities, they might have to 'blend' legal rules to arrive at the conclusion (e.g. charity law + company law +...