Conflicts of Interest and the New Standards of Conduct Rules 
 

Date: Thursday, May 14
Length: 1.5 hours
Start Time: 1:00 pm Eastern/12:00 pm Central/11:00 am Mountain/10:00 am Pacific
 
Instructor: J. Michael Slocum, JD, President, Slocum & Boddie, PC
 
Who Should Attend:  Institutional administrators, policymakers, compliance officers and directors of research, grants and contracts officers in all federal agencies. Additionally, anyone working with a federal contract or subcontract exceeding $5,000,000 and the performance period is 120 days or more.
 
Knowledge level: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced
 
Overview:
Discuss financial, organizational, and scientific conflict of interest ("COI").  If actual or even potential conflict of interests exist and are not properly disclosed and managed, the repercussions include delaying the  award or revocation of previously contracted funds, suspension and debarment, and even criminal penalties. It's no longer possible to gloss over potential areas of COI in hopes the agency doesn't notice; in this information age it's easier than ever for your competitors to investigate possible conflicts of interest and protest the awarded contract should they find one. After award, any whistleblower can bring down the wrath of the Justice Department on you. The Government requires specific training of contractors' employees in Ethics and Conflict of Interest.
 
Under a final rule effective December 12, 2008, contractors must "timely disclose" to the government "credible evidence" of certain federal criminal and civil False Claims Act violations, and "significant" contract overpayments on prime contracts and subcontracts, or face suspension and debarment from government business. The new rule imposes obligations of "due diligence" on contractors to "prevent and detect criminal conduct" and "full cooperation" with "any government agencies responsible for audits, investigations, or corrective actions." The FAR Council stated that this mandatory disclosure represents a "sea change" from existing regulation which the Council achieved by changing FAR 52.203-13, Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct, and FAR 9.4, relating to suspension and debarment. Importantly, the disclosure obligation affects contracts and subcontracts awarded on and after the effective date, and also reaches "credible evidence" of violations currently known to contractors.  It is important to note that 2 CFR 215.42 (and the equivalent rule for States and local governments) impose similar requirements on all contracts awarded under grants.
 
The new FAR rule mandates training for all contractor employees if the institution or organization has sufficiently large contracts.
 
Learning Objectives:

1. Gain an understanding of the definitions and types of conflicts of interest. 
2. Understand the how industry sponsorships may create conflict of interests.
3. Learn what situations create institutional conflict of interests, and how to minimize them.
4. Understand the new standards regarding conflict of interests and contractor codes of ethics.
5. Provide further resources to enable an institution to develop appropriate policies and procedures to comply with the regulations.
   

*Registered attendees will receive log on information and a pdf file of the PowerPoint presentation two days prior to this class. Attendees will receive a certificate noting 1.5 hours educational credit for this course. You must be registered to receive credit.