On 08/03/12 05:27, robert bauer wrote: > > > On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 5:04 PM, David Greaves <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Recently we've been looking at what we can do to setup some kind of "non > profit" > structure around Mer. > > I reported to the Mer Advisory Board on this last friday. > > In the UK there are numerous options : charities, trusts, companies etc > The most appropriate initial setup (minimising regulatory concerns) is an > Unincorporated Association. This is not a discrete legal entity and > cannot enter > into contracts. > > It has no external constraints (such as regulatory, audits or an > accountant), > can setup bank accounts and can transform later into a Charitable Trust > or the > new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) or other legal entity. > > I can't comment on UK options (I've only looked at US), and my comments can be > disregarded anyway given my minimal contact with Mer, but it seems a bit > risky to have money run through an account with no legality. Have you thought > about utilizing the services offered by SPI or something similar? If so, what > are the issues that led you away from such an option?
Hmm, a Serial Peripheral Interface.... not sure how that helps? Ah ... http://www.spi-inc.org/ ... I guess you can tell we're more into the technical side than the organisational/legal :) No, I hadn't heard of them - OK, yes, an organisation like that may be very useful. I'll add it to the investigation list, thanks - that's exactly the sort of suggestion we need. Also, if anyone knows of a UK or european based equivalent then please yell. Actually one thing that was mentioned in my report to the AB and I missed on this summary is that this "Unincorporated Association" is intended to be a first step and we had intended to establish a trust of some sort which will have legal trustees. 12:07:29 in http://mer.bfst.de/meetings/mer-meeting/2012/mer-meeting.2012-03-02-12.00.log.html What risks did you have in mind? Is it primarily trust (which is a completely valid concern and I don't mind discussing/mitigating) or are there other risks which I may have missed? On the other side of the risk coin, I am aware that I would be personally liable for any contracts I enter into on behalf of the Mer project - at this point that exposure seems fairly low and I plan to manage hosting contracts within a budget (ie something like I won't get another server unless we have 12 months ongoing funding either cleared or promised). Thoughts? David -- "Don't worry, you'll be fine; I saw it work in a cartoon once..."
