Print PageIEEE Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement
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Volunteers with signing authority or responsibilities that could represent a potential conflict of interest should complete a Disclosure Statement and Principles of Business Conduct on a annual basis. All Section Chairs and Treasurers are required to complete these statements as provided in the annual financial report. If you wish, any Section officers may complete an IEEE Disclosure Statement (PDF, 717 bytes) and a Principles of Business Conduct form. (PDF, 33 KB) For volunteers, editors and others, involved in making procurement decisions or other activities that could represent a potential conflict of interest, the questionnaire should be completed and returned to the Director, Operations Audit at the Operations Center for preliminary review, prior to final determination by the responsible Board or Committee officer. Before submitting completed questionnaires with explanations to “YES” answered questions that could be considered as revealing “business confidential” information, it may be advisable to discuss such responses with your corporate and/or personal attorney. Due to the size and scope of the Institute, it is not unusual for an employee, volunteer, editor or others to make some affirmative responses to the questions included herein. If a question is answered “YES,” it does not mean that a conflict of interest necessarily exists. All “YES” answers will be reviewed in the context of the employee, volunteer or other individual’s respective IEEE assignment(s). Discussion is encouraged with responsible Staff supervision and/or Volunteer officers in determining the appropriate disposition of potential conflict of interest situations. For example, as a result of the review and subsequent discussions, it might be determined that a Staff member should not work on a particular project or a Volunteer should not participate in a particular decision. The following definitions have been provided to assist you in making responses to this statement. They are for purposes of the statement only and are not necessarily determinative of the question of whether a conflict of interest exists. Definition of Terms: Financial Interest: As used in this statement, Financial Interest includes (except as stated below) any stock, bond or other debt obligation, option or right to purchase stock, share in profits, investment, partnership interest or other proprietary interest of any nature. Ownership of securities in a corporation shall not be deemed to constitute financial interest therein within the meaning of this questionnaire, if all the following conditions are met: (a) the securities are traded on a national securities exchange, or regularly reported in over-the-counter quotations in the financial press; (b) the securities owned by you and, to your knowledge or belief, owned by members of your immediate family do not exceed one-tenth of 1% of the outstanding securities of the same class of such corporation; and (c) the market value of the securities, so owned, does not exceed 50% of your gross annual revenue. Financial Interest also includes employment and contractual relationships.
The individual would have a potential conflict of interest, if they or an immediate family member were employed by Dell and/or had contractual relationships with IEEE for the provision of goods or services to IEEE (e.g., lease or purchase of PCs). In such cases, the individual should complete the form and send it to the Director, Operations Audit at the above e-mail address, or fax number. In order to avoid the potential for a conflict of interest, the individual would likely be advised to recuse themselves from (decline to participate in) any decision-making that involves Dell computers. Participated: In answering this statement’s questions, you should consider that you have Participated in a transaction on behalf of the IEEE, if you have acted directly or have recommended, directed, authorized or approved the action of another who has acted for the IEEE in the transaction, or if you have been involved in the selection or specification of the property purchased, sold or leased or the services procured, even though you may not have been involved in the actual negotiation or transaction. Example #1: An employee or volunteer would be considered to have a potential conflict of interest, if they participated in the process of selecting personal computers and an immediate family member’s job responsibilities involve the sale of personal computers to IEEE. Again, in such cases, the individual should reveal the potential conflict in their response to the questions on this form. In such cases, the employee or volunteer would be asked to recuse themselves from involvement in such decision-making. Example #2: A volunteer or member of their immediate family serves as an editor or in another decision-making capacity for an IEEE publication and also serves in a similar capacity for a competing non-IEEE publication. This potential conflict of interest should be reported in answer to question #s 1, 2 & 3, in the questionnaire. In order to manage the potential conflict, respondents would likely be asked to recuse themselves from any decision-making with respect to issues that relate to both the IEEE publication and the non-IEEE publication that competes with it. Example #3: A volunteer serves in a decision-making capacity for an IEEE conference and also has a direct or indirect interest in a potential supplier of goods and/or services to the conference (e.g., registration services). This potential conflict should be reported in response to question #s 1, 2 & 3, included in the questionnaire. In order to manage the potential conflict, respondents would likely be asked to recuse themselves from the selection process for such goods and services. Example #4: A volunteer who serves on an EAB committee would be considered to have a potential conflict of interest if s/he participates in international accreditation activities and receives for this service gifts, remuneration, or personal income (as opposed to receiving reimbursement for travel and lodging expenses). The reason is that EAB decisions on accreditation activities may affect this volunteer's future income. In such cases, the individual should reveal the potential conflict in the response to the questions on this form, and may be asked to recuse herself/himself from participation in any discussion or vote regarding accreditation in the country or countries where s/he performs or expects to perform accreditation services for a fee. Loan: As used in this statement, Loan means a loan of money, property, or services other than a bank loan at prevailing interest rates. Example: In this case, a potential supplier might have loaned a personal computer to an employee or volunteer. If that individual is involved in the selection of PCs, the situation should be revealed in the COI disclosure statement under Question 4, and he or she should recuse themselves from participation in the decision-making process for the subject equipment. Transactions: Example: If an employee or volunteer were to have decision-making responsibility for the purchase or lease of PCs and they or their immediate family member had worked for the involved supplier, during the prior twelve months, they would be considered to have a potential conflict of interest that should be disclosed in the COI disclosure statement. In response to this disclosure, they would be asked to recuse themselves from the decision-making process for the purchase or lease of PCs by the IEEE.
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