ABSTRACT
At the time of writing, no other book on equity and trusts considers co-operatives and friendly societies as part of the general discussion of the better-established topics, although all of those books do consider unincorporated associations and their interaction with express trusts.1 Co-operatives and friendly societies have traditionally been forms of unincorporated associations. The inclusion of a separate discussion of these entities in this book is for two reasons. First, these entities occupy a middle ground somewhere between ordinary companies and private trusts, and therefore they give us a different perspective on the manner in which property might be held and used for the benefit of a group of people otherwise than as beneficiaries or as shareholders. Whereas the ordinary company began life as a partnership holding property on trust for the members of the company in pursuit of their common objectives, the societies considered in this chapter constitute a similar arrangement aimed primarily at personal welfare as opposed to commercial activities. Unlike trusts, the societies considered in this chapter have frequently been defined by statute as being forms of body corporate-albeit not ordinary companies organised under the Companies Act 1985.
