| Who controls it? | Management committee |
| What is the governing document? | Rules |
| Who is the regulator? | FSA |
| Does it have limited liability? | Yes |
| What sources of finance are available? | Loans, Equity Finance, rarely grants |
| Is charitable status available? | Yes |
An Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) community benefit society (Bencom) is set up to benefit the community, whether that community are members or not. The legislation requires that a community benefit society must have some special reason for seeking registration as a society and not as a company. In practice this means including a standard constitutional provision requiring that benefits will not be returned to its own members, demonstrating that business will be conducted for the benefit of the community, and typically including an attachment to the co-operative principle of one member, one vote, regardless of contribution.
This information was provided by NCVO.
