Richtlinie der Wikimedia-Stiftung zu Interessenkonflikten für Mitglieder des Kuratoriums, leitende Angestellte, Führungskräfte und wichtige Mitarbeiter

Zweck

Die Wikimedia-Stiftung ist eine gemeinnützige Organisation, deren Mitglieder des Kuratoriums, leitende Angestellte, Führungskräfte und wichtige Mitarbeiter (wie im IRS-Formular 990 definiert) ausgewählt werden, um den öffentlichen Zwecken zu dienen, denen sie gewidmet ist. Diese Personen sind verpflichtet, die Geschäfte der Stiftung im Einklang mit diesen Zwecken zu führen und nicht ihre persönlichen Interessen zu verfolgen. Diese Richtlinie zu Interessenkonflikten soll es der Stiftung und ihren Mitgliedern des Kuratoriums, leitenden Angestellten, Führungskräften und wichtigen Mitarbeitern ermöglichen, alle tatsächlichen, potenziellen oder scheinbaren Interessenkonflikte zu identifizieren, zu bewerten und anzugehen, die tatsächlich oder dem Anschein nach auftreten könnten und ihre Pflicht zur uneingeschränkten Treue zur Stiftung in Frage stellen könnten.

Definitionen

Interessenkonflikt.

Ein Interessenkonflikt entsteht in Situationen, in denen:

die externen Interessen einer betroffenen Person mit den Interessen der Stiftung konkurrieren;
die Stiftung eine betroffene Transaktion mit einer betroffene Person oder einer verbundenen Partei eingeht; oder
eine betroffene Person geteilte Loyalitäten hat.

Betroffene Person.

Eine Person, die derzeit als Kuratoriumsmitglied, leitender Angestellter, Führungskraft oder wichtiger Mitarbeiter der Wikimedia-Stiftung tätig ist oder in den vorangegangenen 12 Monaten eine solche Funktion innehatte. Der Begriff "wichtiger Mitarbeiter" wird hier in Übereinstimmung mit der Definition im Formular 990 der US-Steuerbehörde verwendet.

Betroffene Transaktion.

Ein Geschäft, eine Vereinbarung oder eine andere Abmachung zwischen:

der Stiftung und einer betroffenen Person;
der Stiftung und einer verbundenen Partei; oder
einer betroffenen Person und einer anderen Partei, wenn vernünftigerweise davon auszugehen ist, dass die Transaktion wesentliche nachteilige Auswirkungen auf die Stiftung haben wird.

Beispiele für betroffene Transaktionen sind Arbeitsverträge, Fördervereinbarungen, Verträge oder Zahlungen für Dienstleistungen, Markenlizenzverträge und Affiliate-Vereinbarungen. Die Erstattung angemessener Auslagen für Geschäfte der Stiftung ist keine betroffene Transaktion, unterliegt jedoch den normalen Prüfverfahren der Stiftung für die Erstattung von Auslagen.

Interessierte Person.

Eine betroffene Person, deren externe Interessen und Loyalitäten, auch aufgrund einer bedeutenden Beziehung, zu dem tatsächlichen oder potenziellen Interessenkonflikt führen, um den es in einer bestimmten Situation geht.

Related Party.

A person or entity with which a Covered Person has a Significant Relationship.

Significant Relationship.

A significant relationship arises from:

a close familial relationship, including as a spouse, parent, sibling, child, stepchild, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandchild, in-law, or domestic partner;
a material financial interest, such as a greater than 10% ownership stake in an entity (as an individual, or in aggregate among individuals with a close familial relationship); or
a role as an officer, director, Trustee, partner, or employee.

Identifying Conflicts of Interest

The first step in addressing Conflicts of Interest is to identify instances where there is a conflict or where there may be a conflict. This step should err on the side of over-inclusion in order to ensure that all conflicts of interest are identified.

Questionnaire

In order to assist the Foundation in identifying potential Conflicts of interest, each Covered Person shall complete a Conflict of Interest Questionnaire provided by the Foundation once per year, and shall update their Questionnaire as necessary to reflect changes during the course of the year. Questionnaires shall be submitted to the Foundation's legal counsel who shall be responsible for their custody. Completed Questionnaires shall be available for inspection by any Trustee, the Chief Executive Officer, and the Chief Financial Officer, and they may be reviewed by the Foundation’s legal counsel.

Disclosure

As soon as a Covered Person becomes aware of a proposed Covered Transaction or any other potential Conflict of Interest, they have a duty to disclose its existence and circumstances in writing to the Board of Trustees, Chief Executive Officer, and General Counsel. A Covered Person must report all potential Conflicts of Interest that they become aware of, even if they are not an Interested Person. Where there is doubt regarding whether a situation involves an actual or potential conflict of interest that requires disclosure, the matter must be resolved by the Chair of the Board of Trustees (or the Vice Chair(s) if the Chair is an Interested Person).

Assessing Conflicts of Interest

After a potential Conflict of Interest is reported to the Board of Trustees, the Board must gather information and determine whether there is an actual Conflict of Interest. The Board may designate a subcommittee to gather evidence and make recommendations, but the final determination must be made by the full Board.

Recusal of Interested Persons

Interested Persons must make themselves available to the Board of Trustees to answer questions and provide information, to the extent permitted by law, relevant to the potential Conflict of Interest. Interested Persons must otherwise recuse themselves from any discussions regarding the Conflict of Interest. Interested Persons may not observe, be present for, or participate in any Board or committee discussions regarding the Conflict of Interest, except as needed to answer questions. Interested Persons must refrain from using their personal influence to encourage the Board to reach any particular conclusion. These obligations continue to apply to Interested Persons throughout the Board’s assessment, review, and approval of the potential Conflict of Interest.

Board Determination

The Board of Trustees, without the involvement or participation of any Interested Persons, shall review the evidence and determine whether a Conflict of Interest exists. In making its determination, the Board should consider whether:

a Covered Person or a Related Party would receive a benefit (financial or otherwise) from the proposed Covered Transaction;
a Covered Person would be in two conflicting roles; or
a proposed Covered Transaction might be perceived to be a conflict of interest by parties outside the Foundation.

The discussion shall be documented in Board minutes, and the determination shall be documented as a Board resolution. A majority vote is required for the Board to determine that there is no Conflict of Interest. If the Board determines that there is no Conflict of Interest, then the Conflict of Interest review process concludes and any affected transactions may proceed as usual.

Addressing Conflicts of Interest

After determining that a Conflict of Interest exists, the Board of Trustees must decide whether to approve any proposed Covered Transactions. The Board must also address any violations of this policy.

Board Approval

The Board of Trustees may approve a Covered Transaction by majority vote. In order to approve a Covered Transaction, the Board must conclude that:

it is aware of all material facts concerning the Covered Transaction and all Interested Persons’ interests in the Transaction;
the Covered Transaction is not an act of self-dealing or otherwise legally impermissible;
the Covered Transaction would benefit the Foundation and is in the Foundation’s best interests (weighing the potential risks against the benefits);

the cost to the Foundation is fair and reasonable, based on comparable market data;
it is not reasonably possible for the Foundation to enter into a more advantageous arrangement to achieve the same benefit that would not produce a Conflict of Interest; and
the Covered Transaction does not involve the Foundation hiring as an employee or contractor an individual who had been a Wikimedia Foundation Trustee within the preceding 6 months.

The Board may consult legal counsel and other outside advisors as part of its determination. The Board’s discussion and the basis for its approval shall be documented in Board minutes, and the Board’s approval shall be documented as a Board resolution. The publicly published minutes shall include, at a minimum, the fact that the Board discussed and approved a Covered Transaction.

Policy Violations

In the course of fulfilling its duties under this policy, the Board of Trustees (or one of its committees) may learn of information that gives it reasonable cause to believe that a Covered Person has failed to disclose an actual or potential Conflict of Interest, or otherwise violated this policy. In such circumstances, the Board shall inform the Covered Person of the basis of its belief and provide an opportunity for the Covered Person to explain the alleged violations. The Board shall investigate further as warranted by the circumstances, determine whether there was a violation of this policy, and take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.

Policy Administration

This policy shall be administered by the Board of Trustees. The Board is responsible for the following:

receiving disclosures of proposed Covered Transactions;
reviewing proposed Covered Transactions to determine whether they meet the criteria for approval;

maintaining documentation as may be necessary and appropriate to document its review of Covered Transactions, including meeting minutes, resolutions, and pledges of personal commitment; and
reviewing the operation of this policy and making changes from time to time as may be appropriate.

Acknowledgement

Each Covered Person shall be required to acknowledge that they have read this policy and are in compliance with it. They shall be required to sign the pledge of personal commitment and fill out a conflict of interest questionnaire when they accept the role that makes them subject to this policy. They shall be required to update and renew these written commitments at least once per year.

Siehe auch

Verhaltenskodex und Richtlinien zu Interessenkonflikten (Meta-Wiki)