Eligible Member

Eligibility for voting in the resolutions of a co-operative may be subject to local co-operative laws. The concept of an 'eligible member' was introduced to satisfy the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) when preparing V3.0 rules for regulatory approval.

The concept could be introduced into other sets of model rules where association members believe it can be helpful. In FCA Approved Rules (pending), an 'eligible member' is:

"a current or former co-operative ‘user’ under the Act (i.e. a Founder, Labour or User Shareholder)."

In practice, this means that former Founder, Labour and User Shareholders who still have Investor Shares may cast a vote at General Meetings. Their voting power cannot exceed 25% of total voting power in FCA approved co-operatives. Members who have only held Investor Shares (i.e. have not been Founder, Labour or User members) are ‘non-user’ members under the Act and, therefore, are not eligible to vote in General Meetings.

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