Professional and commercial relationships can affect an institutional engagement. IESG's approach is to identify material interests, make the necessary disclosure and establish controls appropriate to the work.
Relevant interests
An interest can arise from employment, ownership, advisory work, a financial arrangement, a referral relationship or a personal connection. It can concern IESG, a member of the team, an external contributor or a proposed partner.
An interest does not have to have caused an improper decision to require attention. The question is whether it could materially affect the work or the confidence a reasonable person could place in it.
Identification and disclosure
We consider relevant interests before assigning work and when circumstances change. Personnel and contributors are required to disclose an interest for review by someone able to assess its effect.
We retain a proportionate record of the interest, review and any restriction. The client receives information material to understanding the service relationship, while unnecessary private details remain protected.
Referrals and commercial arrangements
We explain the basis of a recommendation or introduction. Material payments, commissions, shared ownership or other benefits affecting it are disclosed before the recipient relies on the recommendation.
A referral does not make IESG the provider of the referred service unless the agreement expressly establishes that role. The referral information identifies who will contract, invoice, handle information and address a delivery problem.
Consulting and certification roles
An ICEQC support assignment must respect the independence and case-specific restrictions governing official verification and decisions. Information, commercial leverage or a support relationship must not be used to promise or seek a favourable conclusion.
The purchase or refusal of optional services remains separate from the official determination. Assignments and access arrangements must respect restrictions on overlapping roles.
Controls and reassignment
The appropriate response may include explaining the relationship, limiting access, changing the assignment, arranging a separate review or declining a task. A disclosure alone is not sufficient where the material risk remains unmanaged.
We explain the restriction to the person affected. Informal influence through another team member is not an acceptable substitute for direct participation where that participation has been restricted.
Client choice
We provide the information your institution needs to consider a service or referral. Optional consulting and professional learning are described separately from any approval process and are not presented as a prerequisite unless the responsible rules require them.
If a provider is proposed for a specialist task, the client should understand the alternative of making its own arrangement where the work and applicable process allow it.
Raise a concern
If you believe an interest has not been disclosed or a role has been misrepresented, describe the people, service and information concerned. Send the issue to complaints@iepx.org or use the service-concern route.
Maintain accurate relationship information
Roles can change during a project or between engagements. A previous assignment does not establish continuing authority. Company, platform and certification relationships should be described according to the current arrangement.
Organisation and relationships · Brand and certification claims