At the General Meeting of ACI UK held on 6 April, Morgan McDonnell, President, and various members of the ACI UK Committee spoke passionately about our achievements over the past few years, and particularly about the breadth and volume of initiatives that have enabled us to rebuild our membership from a very low base to current levels.   It was acknowledged that there is still much to do and a long way to go to get membership numbers up to where they should be, given the UK’s predominant position in the global financial market place.   It was also noted that it was disappointing that so few members had turned out for the General Meeting.   We will be looking at how we can encourage much greater participation at these types of events in future.

During the General Meeting, individual Committee members gave specific updates around our four pillars of activity:  Conduct, Education, Community and Charity.   Full details can be found in the Annual Report.

David Hastings, ACI UK’s Banks and Financial Institutions Liaison Officer outlined his role gathering information from institutions about specific regulatory ‘pinch points’.   He observed that the current focus of attention appeared to be centred on new Senior Managers Regime obligations.

Sue Attwood, Managing Director, covered both the Education and Charity segments.   Re: Education, she reiterated ACI’s relevance as an industry educator, through its suite of examinations and diplomas, through ELAC – the e-learning and accreditation initative spearheaded by Global President, Marshall Bailey and in respect of ACI UK specifically, the highly respected and hugely valuable Dealing Simulation Course run annually for delegates from trading, operations, legal and compliance functions in financial organisations.    On the Charity front, Sue reiterated ACI UK’s longstanding commitment to Variety – the Children’s Charity and our flagship fund raising event, the forthcoming ACI UK Charity Golf Day.  Run annually for over 20 years, this event has raised around £1m for Variety, funding the purchase of 54 Sunshine Coaches for children and supporting Variety in other ways.   ACI UK also supports Futures for Kids.

Robert Bowles spoke about the ‘Young People’s Group’ initiative established to engender much greater support and participation from younger market participants.   Their first event takes place on 27 April for DSC Alumnae.

Morgan McDonnell, President; Sue Attwood, Managing Director and Steven Singer, Treasurer were all re-elected to their respective ACI UK officer positions.   No other nominations were received for these positions.   No nominations were received for the 3 additional Committee member places.   However, we would be delighted to hear from any interested and enthusiastic UK members with the enthusiasm and time commitment to support our activities; ‘new blood’ is always welcome and there is always plenty to do!

A Minute of the General Meeting will be made available in due course.