The Chairperson at one of our complexes convinced the Trustees that a written Trustees report is not needed for the AGM – he is of the opinion that they can give a verbal report at the meeting.
If you look at the legislation in this regard you will see that there was a change in the wording from 7 Oct 2016.
The previous Act stated the following:
PMR 38. The trustees shall further cause to be prepared and shall lay before every annual general meeting a report signed by the chairman reviewing the affairs of the body corporate during the past year, for consideration in terms of rule 56 (a).
That specifically stated that it must be a writing report – as it had to be signed
The new PMRs only states the following:
PMR 26. (1) A body corporate must—
(f) prepare a report adopted by the trustees reviewing the affairs of the body corporate during the financial year for presentation at the annual general meeting
There are people who argue that this means that it does not have to be a written report anymore and can be a verbal report but if you look at the other portions of the Act you will see that “prepare and present” refers to a written report.
For example – the Financial statements and 10year Maintenance plan requirements also refers to “prepare and present” and does not specifically state that it must be in writing but we all know that it must. So the same reason can be used for the Trustee report as part of the AGM – it must be a written report that is sent with the AGM notice and discussed at the AGM