CONFLICTS OF INTEREST POLICY
Section 1.
Purpose.
Section 2.
Definitions.
a. Interested Person. Any Director, principal officer, or member of a committee with Board delegated powers who has a direct or indirect financial interest, as defined below, is an interested person.
b. Financial Interest. A person has a financial interest if the person has, directly or indirectly, through business, investment or family:
- an ownership or investment interest in any entity with which the Corporation has a transaction or arrangement,
- a compensation arrangement with the Corporation or with any entity or individual with which the Corporation has a transaction or arrangement, or
- a potential ownership or investment interest in, or compensation arrangement with, any entity or individual with which the Corporation is negotiating a transaction or arrangement.
Section 3.
Procedures.
a. Duty to Disclose. In connection with any actual or possible conflicts of interest, an interested person must disclose the existence of his or her financial interest and must be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the Directors and members of committees with Board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement.
b. Determining Whether a Conflict of Interest Exists. After disclosure of the financial interest and all material facts, and after any discussion with the interested person, he/she shall leave the Board or committee meeting while the determination of a conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon. The remaining Board or committee members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists.
c. Procedures for Addressing the Conflict of Interest.
- An interested person may make a presentation at the Board or committee meeting, but after such presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement that results in the conflict of interest.
- The Chairperson of the Board or committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement.
- After exercising due diligence, the Board or committee shall determine whether the Corporation can obtain a more advantageous transaction or arrangement with reasonable efforts from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict or interest.
- If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably attainable under circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board or committee shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested Directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in the Corporation’s best interest and for its own benefit and whether the transaction is fair and reasonable to the Corporation and shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement in conformity with such determination.
- If the Board or committee has reasonable cause to believe that a member has failed to disclose actual or possible conflicts of interest, it shall inform the member of the basis for such belief and afford the member an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose.
- If, after hearing the response of the member and making such further investigation as may be warranted in the circumstances, the board or committee determines that the member has in fact failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it shall take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.
Section 4.
Records of Proceedings.
a. the names of the persons who disclosed or otherwise were found to have a financial interest in connection with an actual or possible conflict of interest, the nature of the financial interest, any action taken to determine whether a conflict of interest was present, and the Board’s or committee’s decision as to whether a conflict of interest in fact existed and
b. the names of the persons who were present for discussions and votes relating to the transaction or arrangement, the content of the discussion, including any alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement, and a record of any votes taken in connection therewith.
Section 5.
Compensation Committees.
a. A voting member of the Board of Directors who receives compensation, directly or indirectly, from the Corporation for services is precluded from voting on matters pertaining to that member’s compensation.
b. A voting member of any committee whose jurisdiction includes compensation matters and who receives compensation, directly or indirectly, from the Corporation for services is precluded from voting on matters pertaining to that member’s compensation.
Section 6.
Annual Statements.
a. has received a copy of the conflicts of interest policy,
b. has read and understands the policy,
c. has agreed to comply with the policy, and
d. understands that the Corporation is a charitable organization and that in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes.
Section 7.
Periodic Reviews.
Section 8.
Use of Outside Experts.
In conducting the periodic reviews provided for in Section 7, the Corporation may, but need not, use outside advisors. If outside experts are used their use shall not relieve the board of its responsibility for ensuring that periodic reviews are conducted.