"Under the Society's articles policyholders were effectively powerless, and the board was a self-perpetuating oligarchy amenable to policyholder pressure only at its discretion. It is impossible in practice for policyholders to initiate by requisition an EGM or otherwise to raise special business. Board appointments are effectively in the hands of the current board".

"The constitutional position of Equitable may be unusual. Participation in governance by members was impracticable. The articles relied on the current Companies Act provisions, with their requirement to obtain the support of 10% of the voting power to initiate special business, which may be well-enough adapted to organisations with a relatively low membership, but are poorly adapted to any large financial mutual with hundreds of thousands of members and no adequate public register to enable a group of concerned members to requisition business. Other offices, such as Standard Life, now allow a minority by number to requisition business. I see no ready means by which regulators could force the remaining mutuals to adopt articles that facilitated policyholder action, unless it could be brought within the test of "treating policyholders fairly". But one way or another, means must be found to give policyholders an effective voice in mutual management. Without that, policyholders' committees and other such devices will not be of substance".