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THE NEW MILLENNIUM
underwrite the financial viability of IIW in the event of a negative result from the French
taxation authorities.
13
Braithwaite then confirmed that he had no alternative but to report to
the General Assembly that the payment of the tax was yet to be resolved, and that he would
get back to them on the situation in one month’s time. His directness won the day and the
General Assembly was to express its full confidence in his recommendations and gave him
the necessary backing to resolve the VAT crisis. Braithwaite’s philosophy regarding finance
was quite simple and he was heard to say on at least one occasion, ’remember, the only real
money is the money in the bank’.
14
The Institut de Soudure then took the necessary measures to financially
protect IIW back to the beginning of January 1996. It enlisted the support of
a high level consulting bureau to evaluate a new Directive on VAT that had
been published at the time of the General Assembly in Hamburg. A complete
file on IIW’s taxation provisions was provided to the French taxation
administration and it was subsequently ruled that tax of FRF 140 000 would
be payable for the years 1997 and 1998 only and that the FRF 900 000
held in reserve was recoverable.
15
This was a major victory that all shared.
Both the Treasurer and Bramat in particular, were understandably delighted
that IIW’s financial reserves now remained inviolate. The potential threat of
insolvency and bankruptcy had at last been lifted.
By way of explanation, some years later, Bramat was to offer the opinion, ‘It is true
that the one question to be resolved was the VAT problem. It was technical and a bit unusual
because there was no international secretariat comparable to IIW existing in France. The
question was finally resolved with the help of a person working in a financial journal who
was well recognised by the French taxation system. This took some time because when you
are dealing with this kind of problem – paying less tax – it is necessary to find the right kind
of person to convince the tax authorities, which turned out to be successful in the end.’
16
The first draft of a new IIW Constitution was presented to the Executive Council
in Chicago in April 1996 and, following a number of revisions and editorial changes, this
important document was presented to the Governing Council for approval at its subsequent
meeting at the Annual Assembly in Budapest that year.
17
The most obvious of these changes
was confirmation that the Executive Council would now be called the Board of Directors
and the Governing Council would be called the General Assembly. The other significant
change was to limit the Chairs’ term of office on Working Units to three years, with the
possibility of renewal for three consecutive terms, instead of an unlimited period specified
in the original Constitution. Of equal importance was the need to develop a set of bye-laws
and procedures to underwrite the operations of IIW and provide the means by which it was
to be governed. After undergoing several revisions a final draft was prepared and the new
IIW Bye-Laws approved by the General Assembly at its San Francisco meeting in 1997.