Objectives and constitution

1. Name

a) The Group shall be called the Information Risk Management and Assurance (IRMA) specialist group of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

2. Objectives

a) To encourage research into the risk management and audit of information systems and to promote the development of information risk management, auditing and control techniques to reflect changes in technology, legislation and society.

b) To provide a forum for the development of awareness and competence in information systems risk management and audit.

c) To promote the efficient, effective and economical use of risk management, audit and control within information systems.

d) To represent the interests of the Information Risk Management and Audit specialist group to other bodies.

e) To be the primary focus for information risk management, audit and control matters within the BCS.

3. Constitution

The Information Risk Management and Audit specialist group shall consist of:

a) The Officers, being Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, all of whom should normally be members of the BCS.

b) Other officers to represent sub-groups or to perform other tasks which may be determined from time to time.

c) Individual fee paying members.

d) Corporate fee paying members, viz Companies, Groups or other organisations wishing to support the objectives of the Information Risk Management and Audit specialist group.

4. Elected officers

a) The officers shall be elected by the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and shall serve from their time of appointment until the end of the AGM following.

b) A vacancy occurring during the term of office may be filled by an appointment by the management committee.

c) Other officers may be nominated to fill any other posts created by the management committee.

5. Management

a) The affairs of the Group shall be managed (subject to the control of the AGM) by a management committee comprising:
1) Elected officers
2) Co-opted officers
3) Elected members

b) Co-Option: the management committee may co-opt members as required.

c) Meetings: The management committee shall meet at least four times in its year of office and frequently enough to properly carry out the business of the Group. Alternative electronic means of communication (eg. e-mails, conference calls) available to all management committee members, may also be adopted to conduct management committee business from time to time as appropriate.

d) Notice: At least 14 days notice of the place, date and time of meeting shall be given to each member of the management committee.

e) Quorum: The business of the management committee may be transacted by not less then four members.

f) In the absence of the Chairman, the committee shall elect one of its number to take the chair for the meeting.

g) Voting: In determining a question by vote at a management meeting a simple majority will be sufficient. The chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote if necessary.

h) Sub-Committees: The management committee may appoint at any time sub-committees with appropriate terms of reference, each responsible to the management committee and under the chairmanship of a management committee member, to assist in carrying out the business of the Group.

i) Working parties: The management committee may set up at any time working parties responsible to the management committee which shall appoint a Chairman and provide appropriate terms of reference.

j) Branches: The management committee may set up at any time branches responsible to the management committee which shall appoint a branch Chairman and provide appropriate terms of reference.

6. Annual general meeting

a) Each year the Group shall hold an AGM in May.

b) Notice: The Secretary shall send notice of the date, time and place of the AGM to all members of the Group at least 28 days before the meeting. For this purpose a notice printed in the Programme Card of the Group and complying with the above requirements shall be considered sufficient notice.

c) All members of the Group have the right to attend the AGM, for which there shall be no attendance charge.

d) Agenda: The following items shall be included:

1) Minutes of the previous AGM
2) Minutes of any Extraordinary General Meeting held since the previous AGM
3) Chairman's Report
4) Statement of Accounts
5) Proposals for alterations to the Constitution
6) Proposals for alterations to Fees
7) Election of Officers
8) Election of Auditors

e) Nominations: Any member is entitled to nominate a person for any elected office on the management committee. Such nominations may be proposed and seconded at the meeting if not previously received by the Secretary.

f) Voting: Every question at an AGM shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast. Individual members of the Group each have a single vote. The accredited representative of each corporate member also has a single vote. The chairman shall have a casting vote if necessary.

7. Extraordinary general meeting

a) An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) shall be convened on a resolution of the management committee or within five weeks of receipt by the Secretary of a requisition signed by no less than twenty members (Corporate members having only a single vote) stating the business to be transacted at the meeting.

b) An EGM shall transact only such business as is specified in the resolutions or requisitions convening it.

c) All members of the Group have the right to attend the EGM, for which there shall be no attendance charge.

8. Finance

a) Bank account: In accordance with BCS guidelines, the Group shall have at least one Account (Account A) at Lloyds Bank, Langham Place Branch, used for normal running expenses. Other accounts at that branch or other places as approved by the management committee, may be used for special events or for investment funds.

b) the Group shall follow the BCS financial guidelines as issued from time to time.

c) The financial year shall start on 1st May each year.

d) The Treasurer is responsible to the BCS for submitting draft budgets, recording ongoing expenditure and capital expenditure separately for each by 30 November in the preceding year.

e) The Treasurer is responsible for making available to the BCS a revenue statement at the end of every financial year (30th April) in respect of the Group's normal operations and special events, this statement to be included in the BCS annual accounts subject to audit by the BCS auditors.

f) All cheques drawn on the Group's bank accounts must be signed by any two of Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. In the event of such signatories being unavailable, then the management committee may appoint a member of the committee to act as second signatory, together with one of the nominated signatories.

g) The accounts of the group shall be audited each year by an auditor elected at the AGM.

h) All income and property of the Group from whatever source derived shall be applied solely to the promotion of the objects of the Group.

9. Dissolution

a) In the event of the winding up or dissolution of the Group any surplus assets remaining after discharge of liabilities shall automatically rest in the BCS.

b) In the event of an authorised officer of the Group not being available to conduct the transfer of any assets, then an appropriate officer of the BCS shall have the required power.

10. BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

a) The Group shall be governed by the rules of the BCS as these apply to specialist groups of the BCS. Where it is considered that a rule of the Group is in conflict with a BCS rule governing specialist group activities, the BCS rule shall apply.

b) The Chairman of the Group must be a Fellow, Member or Associate Member of the BCS.

c) Other elected officers of the Group should normally be members of the BCS.

d) The Chairman, or other elected committee member of the Group, is ex officio a member of the BCS Technical Board.

e) The Group must advise the Chairman of the Technical Board of the names of any elected officers who are not members of the BCS.

f) All members of the Group's management committee shall abide by the Code of Conduct relating to members of the BCS.

g) The Group may use the BCS name to enhance the reputation of their own activities, but must not bring the BCS into disrepute.

h) No member of the Group may speak on behalf of the BCS without proper authority from the BCS.