In 2023, the Luxembourg government introduced a new law on non-profit associations (ASBL). This new law follows recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the world’s watchdog on money laundering and terrorist financing. It defines international standards aimed at preventing these illegal activities and the damage they cause to society. As this is an international body, the requirements are not specific to Luxembourg, but are intended to be applicable in all countries.

The new law came into force in September 2023 and there is a deadline for compliance, so our Kiwanis International-Europe (KI-E) association must also comply.

As we want to apply the same high principles and values, and also offer our members the option of voting online, we thought it would be useful to comply with the new law now, which authorizes online voting as long as it is written into the articles of association.

That’s why we’re proposing to adapt our articles of association now, as this will have to be done sooner or later.

Compared with the articles of association we have had until now, it should be noted that the articles of association will be much shorter, and that many provisions will be referred to in the Policies, Procedures and Guidelines (PP&Gs).

The members of the asbl will still be the clubs.

However, we also had to take into account the Kiwanian practice, widespread at all levels, of Delegates at large, i.e. people who have at some time been members of the Board of Directors, and who therefore bring expertise and voting rights independently of the quota of 3 voting members assigned to each club.

We therefore propose a second category of members, namely these Delegates at large, as individuals.

Like the other members, clubs, these members are also subject to a membership fee, the maximum amount of which is stipulated in the articles of association, just as it is for clubs, on an equal footing.

As this amount is a maximum, the General Meeting decides on the actual amount charged. As Delegates at large are already subject to membership fees in their own clubs, the Board of Directors proposes to set a lower, or even zero, fee for this category of members.

Finally, we would also like to set Kiwanis’ neutrality in stone with the addition of a sentence “The association has no prejudices of race, religion, sex, color or political bias.”

Amending the articles of association is a major operation requiring an Extraordinary General Meeting with a very high number of participants (quorum). This is the reason for our extraordinary meeting in Luxembourg.

Should the special quorum not be reached, a second General Meeting will have to be convened within 15 days at the earliest to decide on the same subject with a majority of two-thirds of those present.

This second meeting will probably take place in October, enabling remote online voting at the 2025 Convention in Iceland, provided the new articles of association are adopted.

The drafting of the new articles of association has required a great deal of energy from the Executive Committee and legal advisors – many thanks to them!

The next major task will be to amend the Policies, Procedures and Guidelines (PP&Gs), but one thing at a time: the articles of association first!

Josy Glatigny
KI-E President 2023-24

April 29, 2024.