Conflict of Interest Register Template | Non-Financial Professional and Personal | Actions and Autorised | Template for FCA Applications and Authorised Firms

1 Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest can occur where an individual or company have/could have, their motivations influenced or corrupted by having an invested, personal, financial or emotional interest in a situation or activity. [Your Company Name] (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) complies with its obligations under the regulatory system and associated legislation and have the appropriate procedures and controls in place to: –

• Identify conflicts of interest between us (including all staff or any people directly linked to us), and a client of the firm or between a client of the firm and another client
• Record of any type of conflict which may arise due to the nature and services that our firms offer and that any conflicts identified are added to this list and disseminated immediately
• Manage any conflicts and aim to prevent them prior to them arising
• Ensure that where a conflict of interest cannot be prevented, it is disclosed to the client/s prior to any agreements or advice being provided

The Company utilise the below Conflicts of Interest Register for recording actual and possible conflicts, who is involved, the type of conflict and any action taken to mitigate or remove the conflict. This register is maintained by [insert name], who is responsible for keeping the records up to date, reporting to management and ensuring that any actions have been implemented within a set timeframe. All records are retained for a minimum of 6 months after the interest has expired.

1.1 Completing the Register

Using a standardised register format will ensure that all employee can follow the same process for registering a conflict and any published register can be easily understood and referenced. The sections on the register are explained in more detail below for ease of completion: –

• NAME – State who is involved in the conflict of interest (e.g. whole company, Partner, employee)
• DATE IDENTIFIED – State the date the conflict was originally identified
• DESCRIPTION OF INTERESTS – It is important to provide a detailed overview of the interest and their conflicts, including what the involve, monetary values, people involved, reason for occurrence etc.
• TYPE OF INTEREST – Financial Interests: individual/company gets direct financial gain/benefit from a decision made by them.
  • Non-Financial Professional Interests: individual/company gets professional gain that is not monetary related, e.g. reputation boost, promotion, board seat etc
  • Non-Financial Personal Interests: as above, but gain/benefit is personal and not directly linked to work/career.
  • Indirect Interests: gain/benefit by association with someone benefitting in one or more of the above categories.
• DATES TO/FROM – If the interest(s) occur across or will affect several dates, these should be noted on the register
• ISSUING INTEREST – It is good practice to specify who is involved in the providing/causing the interest conflict, e.g. client, supplier, third-party, potential client, donor etc
• ACTIONS – What actions (if any) have/need to be taken to mitigate, reduce or remove the conflict. Note: some interests can be noted without needing actions, such as travel payments to attend speaking engagement etc, if the conflict has been managed and is not deemed unlawful.
• AUTHORISED – All interests and their corresponding actions should be authorised by a Director or Senior Management to ensure the interests and their conflicts are known and understood.

1.2 Conflicts of Interest Register