3. Managing members' financial interests

Maintaining an up-to-date register of members is an ongoing condition of registration for any society. Societies must maintain an up-to-date register of members and directors. Having a live and up to date membership or share register is also necessary for the preparation of the annual accounts. 

The membership register must include:

• Member’s name (individual or institutional)
• The member’s postal address & electronic address
• Value of any shareholding (number of shares and total value)
• Any other property held in the society (or members loans)
• The date of joining and leaving membership
• Details of a nomination of a beneficiary to receive the members’ shareholding (up to the value of £5000) in the event of their death.
• Whether a member is a UK resident (for tax purposes)

It may include:

• Member’s date of birth
• Any interest accrued to the share account
• Any interest paid out or due to be paid out in cash/vouchers
• Whether a member qualifies for any investment tax relief
• When share capital is eligible for withdrawal
• Bank account details to enable payment of interest/withdrawals
• Which share offer they have invested in (if more than one)

The director’s register must include details of the offices held and the dates they took (and left) office. 

Members have the right to inspect a duplicate copy of this register, excluding details of the members’ shareholding and property in the society.  Societies are not required to file these registers with the FCA.

The membership/share register should be a live, functional document enabling a society to meet its legal responsibilities and maintain relationships and trust with the membership. This can be an Excel spreadsheet for more basic membership registers, but as the number of transactions increase, or need for further information, increases, other options are available.

For a more technical and sophisticated approach to managing a membership/share register on a DIY basis, AirRegister may be a good option. AirRegister is a freely available tool for managing share registers for societies who have issued community shares. AirRegister is hosted on the platform AirTable, is customisable to suit a society’s needs and was developed by experienced community shares practitioners, developers, and Third Sector Accountancy. These practitioners may be able to support a society in setting up an AirRegister account and processes. Contact the Co-operatives UK Advice team for more information.

External providers of share registry services

Some organisations provide Share Registry services for societies who have run community share offers. These are very helpful in terms of managing the ongoing financial administration relating to members’ share capital. They do not necessarily extend to the ongoing member relationships and engagement strategies outside of the society’s legal and financial responsibilities. 

• Ethex
• Sharenergy
• Neville Registrars