ARPAS-UK Conflicts of Interest Policy

1.    Background to ARPAS-UK Conflicts of Interest Policy

ARPAS-UK is a membership organisation representing its members, and it is a private company limited by guarantee.

The purposes of this policy is to:

  • protect the integrity of the Organisation’s decision-making process;
  • ensure decisions are taken in the best interest of ARPAS-UK members;
  • enable external stakeholders to have confidence in the organisation’s integrity and representation;
  • protect the integrity and reputation of staff, and Corporate Directors.

All staff and Corporate Directors of ARPAS-UK will strive to avoid any conflict of interest between the interests of the Organisation on the one hand, and personal, professional, and business interests on the other. This includes avoiding actual conflicts of interest as well as the perception of conflicts by internal and external stakeholders.

2.    Identification of Potential Conflicts

Conflicts of interest could arise under the following circumstances:

  • an employee or a Corporate Director’s personal business interests is conflicting with their obligations as part of ARPAS-UK, or is conflicting with members’ best interest;
  • an employee or a Corporate Director is also on the committee or the board of another organisation that may advocate a different policy than ARPAS-UK;
  • an employee or a Corporate Director is also on the committee or the board of another organisation that is seeking similar members, or clients, or funding sources as ARPAS-UK;
  • an employee or a Corporate Director has shares in a business that may be awarded a contract to do work or provide services for ARPAS-UK;
  • ARPAS-UK employs or pays a member or a Corporate Director to provide services, where ARPAS-UK board reasonably believes it to be in the Organisation’s best interests to do so, and in accordance with article 6 of ARPAS-UK Articles of Association.

The policy applies to connected persons – spouse/partner, or any other person who is financially dependent on you.

3.    Declaration of potential  Conflicts of Interest

An ARPAS-UK employee or Corporate Director must state/disclose/register any conflict:

  • prior to their appointment, then at the beginning of each financial year
  • at the start of any meeting of ARPAS-UK members
  • at the start of any meeting of the ARPAS-UK Committee members
  • at the start of any meeting of the ARPAS-UK board of directors
  • when representing ARPAS-UK during the course of a meeting/event/conversation with external parties
  • conflict during the course of a meeting/event/conversation if a conflict arises

As an employee or Corporate Director, you must seek to avoid or mitigate potential conflict situations, and promptly report any potential conflicts to the Board who will keep a Conflict Register.

4.    Management of Conflict of Interest when representing the Organisation

When representing ARPAS-UK, an employee or Corporate Director must be mindful of ARPAS-UK members’ interests, this means:

  • Not promoting personal business interests when representing ARPAS-UK
  • Representing the views defined by the Organisation, and in the absence of pre-defined views, expressing views that are reasonably expected to be in members’ interests
  • Obtaining pre-approval from ARPAS-UK directors for any potential conflicts when engaging with external parties.

5.    Management of Conflicts of Interest in decision-making instances

In case of a conflict, the rule for decision-making is that the conflicted Party:

  • leaves relevant discussions
  • does not take part in the decision or vote
  • is not counted in the quorum if there is any

6.    Outside activities and business interests

Seek pre-approval for any OBI that is in scope of the Policy. Examples include:

  • Directorships undertaken of PLCs or Private Companies linked to the industry
  • Political appointments, Industry appointments
  • Trade association memberships/speaking engagements

7.    Application in the context of SIG or committee  or WG activities

In the event that ARPAS-UK members are involved in Special Interest Groups, or committees or working groups with or on behalf of ARPAS-UK,  and Conflict of Interest could arise, then the board will ensure that this policy applies and the relevant members adhere to it by signing as per article 8.

8.    Attestation

ARPAS-UK employees, Corporate Directors, and relevant members as per article 7,  attest that they adhere to this policy individually.