Ben Koehne, Partner - Head of Financial Services Sector and Building Societies and Mutuals,
Addleshaw Goddard

A session exploring practical ways and top tips to ensure the smooth running of a building society AGM from preparation and planning through to voting and closing the meeting, together with an opportunity to share different approaches and past experiences and insights.

David Pygott, Partner, Addleshaw Goddard & Ben Koehne, Partner, Addleshaw Goddard

In this session David and Ben will touch briefly on some hot topics and areas of risk for building society directors in the context of their duties and suggest some practical and pragmatic ways to address these.

James Littlefair, Partner, Clare Chalmers

James will discuss good practice in terms of the scope, methodology and external reporting, following the Corporate Governance Institute's review of the board evaluation market, with examples of what larger and smaller building societies are doing.  He will also share current board effectiveness themes and trends from the sector and beyond.

Tess Kelly, Partner, Addleshaw Goddard  in conversation with Teneo’s Corporate Simplification and Exit Team. 

Drawing on practical experience, this session will highlight some key areas in which Society Secretaries can strategically assist a building society board in preparing for and, if needed, navigate an orderly and solvent exit including the interaction of directors’ duties, duties, governance and regulator engagement. 

Chris Lawrenson MBE, former Head of Legal at the BSA

This session describes the tumultuous period in the late 1990s when carpetbagger activists and corporate raiders sought to force building societies to become banks, and explains its potential relevance nearly thirty years later.