Building Societies Act, 1976

Resolutions relating to appointment and removal of auditor.

67.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), a resolution at an annual general meeting of a society, appointing as auditor a person other than a retiring auditor or providing expressly that a retiring auditor shall not be re-appointed, shall not be effective unless notice of the intention to move it has been given to the society not less than 28 days before the meeting at which it is moved.

(2) Where, after notice of the intention to move such a resolution has been given to the society, an annual general meeting of the society is called for a date less than 28 days after the notice has been given, the notice, although not given within the time required by subsection (1), shall be deemed to have been properly given for the purposes of that subsection.

(3) A society shall give its members notice of any such intended resolution at the same time and in the same manner as it gives notice of the meeting or, if that is not practicable, it shall give them not less than twenty-one days' notice of the intended resolution either by advertisement in a daily newspaper published in the State and circulating in the area in which the society's chief office is situated or in any other way permitted by the rules of the society.

(4) On receipt of notice of such an intended resolution, a society shall forthwith send a copy of the notice to any retiring auditor.

(5) Subject to subsection (6), where notice is given of such an intended resolution and the retiring auditor makes in relation to it representations in writing to the society (not exceeding a reasonable length) and requests their notification to members of the society, the society shall, unless the representations are received by it too late for it to do so—

(a) in any notice of the intended resolution given to members of the society, state the fact of the representations having been made, and

(b) send a copy of the representations to every member of the society entitled to attend and vote at a meeting of the society,

and if a copy of the representations is not sent as aforesaid because received too late or because of the society's default, the auditor may (without prejudice to his right to be heard orally) require that his representations shall be read out at the meeting.

(6) Copies of the representations need not be so sent out and the representations need not be read out at the meeting if, on the application either of the society or of any other person who claims to be aggrieved, the Court is satisfied that the rights conferred by this section are being, or are likely to be, abused in order to secure needless publicity for defamatory matter, and the Court may order the society's costs on an application under this section to be paid in whole or in part by the auditor, notwithstanding that he is not a party to the application.

(7) Subsections (5) and (6) shall apply to a resolution to remove the first auditor appointed by virtue of section 66 (4) as they apply in relation to a resolution that a retiring auditor shall not be re-appointed.