Art. 1 Name and Registered Office

The “Federation of Card Games” (“FCG” or the “Association”) is an association governed by the present Articles of Association and subsidiarity by the provisions of articles 60 ff. of the Swiss Civil Code.

The registered office of the FCG shall be in Lausanne in Switzerland. It may only be transferred to another location following a decision by the Committee.

Art. 2 Objectives

The objectives of the Association are:

(a) To maintain, to strengthen, to develop and to promote card games and the related competitions across the world;

(b) To strengthen the bonds and relations among its members and to promote the interest of its members;

(c) To promote the exchange of experiences through the organizing training courses, lectures or workshops in relation to card games;

(d) To liaise with international organizations or government authorities to foster cooperation and exchange of information in relation to card games.

Art. 3 Resources and Responsibility

The FCG is a non-profit association.

Its principal income derives from the annual subscription fees of its members, the level and terms of which shall be determined annually by the Committee.

If necessary the Association’s resources can derive from contributions, donations or legacies, loans or any other resources decided by the Committee.

The Association is solely liable for its debts on its assets. Personal liability of members or governing bodies for debts of the Association is excluded.

Art. 4 Memberships

The Association shall be composed of founding members and ordinary members.

All present at the constitutive general meeting of July 21, 2017 have the status of founding members of the Association.

The status of ordinary member is open to national cards games associations, federations of card games associations and other institutions or legal entities which have an active interest in the Association’s aims upon written application to the Committee. The decision falls to the Committee.

All membership application for ordinary membership must be made in writing and addressed to the Committee. The admission or refusal of an ordinary membership application is a matter for the Committee alone to decide, at its sole discretion and without any indication of reasons. No judicial remedy is available against this decision.

The Committee maintains a list of members of the Association.

Membership ceases:

(i) by resignation for the end of a calendar year, notified by registered letter sent to the Committee at least six months before the end of the calendar year;

(ii) by exclusion ordered by the Committee, without reasons being given. The decision of the Committee is final and cannot be challenged judicially.

No refund of subscription fees will be made and subscription fees for the current year remain due.

Art. 5 The General Meeting

The General Meeting is the supreme governing body of the Association.

It is composed of all the members of the FCG.

The General Meeting has the following non-transferable powers:

1. Amend the Articles of Association;

2. Appoint and revoke the members of the Committee, whenever justified by good cause, as well as vote on their discharge;

3. Approve the budget, the annual financial statements and reports submitted to it;

4. Appoint and revoke auditors;

5. Decide on the merger, the transformation, the transfer of assets of the Association, the adhesion to another association with similar objectives; and

6. Decide the dissolution of the Association and appoint a liquidator amongst or outside of its members

Art. 6 Right to Convene a General Meeting

The ordinary General Meeting shall take place at least once a year. Extraordinary General Meetings shall be held as often as necessary or at the written request of one-fifth of the members to the Committee.

Art. 7 Form of the Convening of the General Meeting

The General Meeting shall be convened by a single notice sent by post mail by the Committee to the members. Such notice must be given at the latest 20 days prior to the General Meeting.The invitation shall indicate the date, time and place of the General Meeting as well as the agenda. No resolutions can be passed on agenda items which have not been duly announced.

Art. 8 Voting Rights and Representation

Each member is entitled to one vote.

Each member may arrange representation at the General Meeting through another member or a third party. The representative must produce a written power of attorney.

Art. 9 Resolutions and Voting

The General Meeting is validly constituted when at least three of the founding members, including the Committee President, are present.

Decisions shall be passed and carried out by the absolute majority of the present members.

In case of a tie, the President shall have the casting vote.

Decisions relating to the appointment or revocation of members of the Committee, amendment of the Articles, and dissolution of the Association are passed by the double absolute majority of the founding members present and of the ordinary members present.

Votes shall take place by show of hands. Upon decision of the President or the General Meeting, they will be taken by secret ballot.

Art. 10 The Committee

The Committee can only be composed of members of the Association and must always be composed of a majority of founding members.

The members of the Committee are elected by the General Meeting for a period of four years, which shall be indefinitely renewable.

The Committee constitutes itself and decides on the attribution of different functions among its members. These comprise at least the following functions, to which only founding members can be appointed:

1. a President;

2. a Vice-President; and

3. a Treasurer.

In the event of interim-election, the new members shall complete the term of office of their predecessor.

Art. 11 Duties

The Committee exercises all powers that are not attributed to another governing body. In particular, it:

a. in charge of the management of the Association;

b. takes all useful measures to fulfill the Association’s purpose;

c. opines on all items submitted to the vote of the General Assembly;

d. establishes the budget and managing the resources of the Association;

e. determines the amount and terms of the annual subscription fees to be paid by the members;

f. accepts or refuses new members;

g. decides on the exclusion of members;

h. convenes the general meetings;

i. represents the Association towards third parties and/or authorizes members of the Committee or third parties to represent the Association and determines signature powers.

With the exception of tasks relating to the admission, refusal or exclusion of members, the Committee can delegate tasks to any temporary or permanent commission or appoint third parties in specific cases.

Art. 12 Calling of Meetings and Decision Making

The President shall convene the Committee as often as business requires, but at least once a year.

At least three founding members must be present for the Committee to validly take decisions.

The Committee works as a collegium and its deliberations aim to reach a consensus. In the absence of consensus, decisions of the Committee are taken by the absolute majority of the members of the Committee.

In the event of a tie, the President shall have the casting vote. The President shall have a veto rights on all decisions of the Committee, except the convening of a General Meeting. The President’s veto right can be lifted by a decision of the Committee taken by the majority of two thirds of its members.

Resolutions may also be passed by circular (letter, fax or email) or by telephone or videoconference, unless a member requests a discussion at a meeting. These resolutions are to be recorded in the minutes of the following meeting.

Art. 13 Keeping and audit of the financial statements

The Treasurer shall be responsible for keeping the Association’s financial statements.

Unless the General Meeting decides otherwise, the Association’s financial statements are to be reviewed by one auditor elected annually by the General Meeting among the members. The General Meeting may also decide to entrust this task to an auditing company.

The verification report is, as the case may be, submitted to the General Meeting for approval.

Art. 14 Dissolution

The General Meeting may at any time resolve to dissolve the Association; such a decision is subject to the double absolute majority of the founding members present and of the ordinary members present at a General Meeting.

Art. 15 Arbitration

Any decision taken by the Association will be submitted exclusively by way of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, which will resolve the dispute definitively in accordance with the Code of sports-related arbitration. The time limit for appeal is twenty-one days after the reception of the decision concerning the appeal.

The Panel will consist of three arbitrators to be appointed in accordance with the Code of sports-related arbitration. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the language of the arbitration will be English.

Art. 16 Prevailing Language

In the event of any discrepancy between the French and the English version of these Articles of Association, the French version shall prevail.