Gifts and Other Personal Benefits to Staff or Officers

Staff or officers of the Consortium may not accept forms of personal benefit from an engaged party if that would compromise or appear to compromise either the professional and independent judgment of the staff member or officer in question, or the reputation of the Consortium. Engaged parties are Consortium members or their representatives, Consortium directors, donors or any other party engaging with the Consortium.

If a personal gift or other benefit with an estimated fair market value of US$250 or more is offered by an engaged party, it must be reported to the Compliance Officer and to at least one executive officer other than the Compliance Officer, who will together then determine whether or not the gift or benefit must be declined, returned, or donated to charity.

Public awards in recognition of service given by industry, educational, civic or other bodies are not subject to the above limit.

Hardware, software or other products may be offered to officers or staff for legitimate business purposes of the Consortium. These will be considered to be gifts to the Consortium, are to be reported to the Compliance Officer, and are expected to be returned to the Consortium once the individual is no longer an officer or staff member.

An officer will often be receiving monetary compensation, expense reimbursement, or other benefits from an employer or other primary sponsor of his or her various roles in relation to the Consortium. All such compensation and benefits are exceptions to the above policy provided that the nature of the relationship between the officer and this other party is disclosed to the executive officers.