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Code
of Business Conduct
Introduction
This Code of Business Conduct covers a wide range of business
practices and procedures. It does not cover every issue that
may arise, but it sets out basic principles to guide all employees
and officers of the Company. All of our employees and officers
must conduct themselves accordingly and seek to avoid even
the appearance of improper behavior.
If a law conflicts with a policy in this Code, you must comply
with the law. If you have any questions about these conflicts,
you should ask your supervisor how to handle the situation.
Employees and officers are responsible for understanding the
legal and policy requirements that apply to their jobs and
reporting any suspected violations of law, this Code or Company
policy.
Those who violate the standards in this Code will be subject
to disciplinary action, including possible dismissal. Furthermore,
violations of this Code may also be violations of the law
and may result in civil or criminal penalties for you, your
supervisors and/or the Company.
The basic principles discussed in this Code are subject to
any Company policies covering the same issues.
1 - Compliance with Laws, Rules and Regulations
Obeying the law, both in letter and in spirit, is the foundation
on which this Company’s ethical standards are built.
All employees and officers must respect and obey the laws,
rules and regulations of the cities and states in which we
operate. Although employees and officers are not expected
to know the details of each of these laws, rules and regulations,
it is important to know enough to determine when to seek advice
from supervisors, managers or other appropriate personnel.
2 - Conflicts of Interest
A "Conflict of Interest" exists when a person’s
private interest interferes in any way – or even appears
to interfere – with the interests of the Company. A
conflict situation can arise when an employee or officer takes
actions or has interests that may make it difficult to perform
his or her Company work objectively and effectively. Conflicts
of interest may also arise when an employee of officer, or
a member of his or her family, receives improper personal
benefits as a result of his or her position in the Company.
Loans to, or guarantees of obligations of, employees and officers
and their family members by the Company may create conflicts
of interest and in certain instances are prohibited by law.
It is a conflict of interest for a Company employee or officer
to work for a competitor, customer or supplier. You should
avoid any direct or indirect business connection with our
customers, suppliers, competitors, except as required on our
behalf.
Conflicts of interest are prohibited as a matter of Company
policy, except as approved by the Board of Directors.
3 - Insider trading
All non-public information about the Company should be considered
confidential information. Employees and officers who have
access to confidential information about the Company or any
other entity are not permitted to use or share that information
for trading purposes or for any other purpose except the conduct
of the Company’s business. To use non-public information
for personal financial benefit or to “tip” others
who might make an investment decision on the basis of this
information is not only unethical but also illegal.
4 - Corporate Opportunities
Employees and officers are prohibited from taking for themselves
opportunities that are discovered through the use of corporate
property, information or position without the consent of the
Board of Directors. No employee or officer may use corporate
property, information, or position for personal gain, and
no employee or officer may compete with the Company's interests
when the opportunity to do so arises.
5 - Competion and Fair Dealing
We seek to outperform our competition fairly and honestly.
We seek competitive advantages through superior performance,
never through unethical or illegal business practices. Stealing
proprietary information, possessing trade secret information
that was obtained without the owner’s consent, or inducing
such disclosures by past or present employees of other companies
is prohibited. Each employee and officer should endeavor to
respect the right of and deal fairly with the Company’s
customers, suppliers, competitors and employees. No employee
or officer should take unfair advantage of anyone through
manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information,
misrepresentation of material facts, or any other illegal
trade practice.
No employee or officer is permitted to engage in price fixing,
bid rigging, allocation of markets or customers, or similar
illegal anti-competitive activities.
To maintain the Company’s valuable reputation, compliance
with our quality processes and safety requirements is essential.
All inspection and testing documents must be handled in accordance
with all applicable specifications and requirements.
The purpose of business entertainment and gifts in a commercial
setting is to create goodwill and sound working relationships,
not to gain unfair advantage with customers. No gift or entertainment
should ever be offered, given provided or accepted by any
Company employee or officer, family member of an employee
or officer, or agent unless it: (1) is not a cash gift, (2)
is consistent with customary business practices, (3) is reasonable
in value, (4) cannot be construed as a bribe or payoff and
(5) does not violate any laws, regulations or applicable policies
of the other party’s organization. Please discuss with
your supervisor any gifts or proposed gifts which you are
not certain are appropriate.
5 - Political Contributions
Except as approved in advance by the Chief Executive Officer
or Chief Financial Officer, the Company prohibits political
contributions (directly or through trade association) by the
Company or its business units. This includes: (a) any contributions
of Company funds or other assets for political purposes, (b)
encouraging employees to make any such contribution; or (c)
reimbursing an employee for any contribution.
Individual employees are free to make personal political contributions
as they see fit.
7 - Discrimination and Harassment
The diversity of the Company’s employees is a tremendous
asset. We are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity
in all aspects of employment and will not tolerate any illegal
discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion,
sex, national origin or any other protected class. For further
information you should consult the appropriate Company policy.
8 - Health and Safety
The Company strives to provide each employee and officer with
a safe and healthy work environment. Each employee and officer
has responsibility for maintaining a safe and healthy workplace
for all employees and officers by following environmental,
safety and health rules and practices and reporting accidents,
injuries and unsafe equipment, practices or conditions. Violence
and threatening behavior are not permitted.
Employees and officers are expected to perform their Company
related work in a safe manner, free of the influences of alcohol,
illegal drugs or controlled substances. The use of illegal
drugs in the workplace will not be tolerated.
9 - Environmental
The Company expects its employees and officers to follow all
applicable environmental laws and regulations. If you are
uncertain about your responsibility or obligation you should
check with your supervisor or unit manager for guidance.
10 - Record Keeping, Financial Controls and Disclosures
The Company requires honest, accurate and timely recording
and reporting of information in order to make responsible
business decisions.
All business expense accounts must be documented and recorded
accurately in a timely manner. If you are not sure whether
a certain expense is legitimate, ask your controller. Policy
guidelines are available from your controller.
All of the Company’s books, records, accounts and financial
statements must be maintained in reasonable detail, must appropriately
reflect the Company’s transactions, must be promptly
disclosed in accordance with any applicable laws or regulations
and must conform both to applicable legal requirements and
to the Company’s system of internal controls.
Business records and communications often become public, and
we should avoid exaggeration, derogatory remarks, or inappropriate
characterizations of people and companies that may be misunderstood.
This applies equally to e-mail, internal memos, and formal
reports. Records should always be retained or destroyed according
to the Company’s record retention policies. In accordance
with those policies, in the even of litigation or governmental
investigation, please consult the Corporate Vice President.
11 - Confidentiality
Employees and officers must maintain the confidentiality of
proprietary information entrusted to them by the Company or
its customers or suppliers, except when is authorized in writing
by the Chief Financial Officer or required by laws or regulations.
Proprietary information includes all non-public information
that might be of use to competitors or harmful to the Company
or its customers or suppliers if disclosed. It includes information
that suppliers and customers have entrusted to us. The obligation
to preserve proprietary information continues even after employment
ends.
12 - Protection and Proper Use of Company Assets
All employees and officers should protect the Company’s
assets and ensure their efficient use. Theft, carelessness,
and waste have a direct impact on the Company’s profitability.
Any suspected incident of fraud or theft should be immediately
reported for investigation. Company assets should not be used
for non-Company business.
The obligation of employees and officers to protect the Company’s
assets includes the Company’s proprietary information.
Proprietary information includes intellectual property such
as trade secrets, patents, trademarks, and copyrights, as
well as business, marketing and service plans, engineering
and manufacturing ideas, designs, databases, records, salary
information and any unpublished financial data and reports.
Unauthorized use or distribution of this information is a
violation of Company policy. It could also be illegal and
result in civil or criminal penalties.
13 - Payments to Government Personnel
The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits giving anything
of value, directly or indirectly, to officials of foreign
governments or foreign political candidates in order to obtain
or retain business. Never give or authorize directly or indirectly
any illegal payments to government officials of any country.
While the FCPA does, in certain limited circumstances, allow
nominal “facilitating payments” to be made, any
such payment must be discussed with local management and the
Corporate Vice President before any such payment can be made.
In addition, the U.S. government has a number of laws and
regulations regarding business gratuities, which may be accepted
by U.S. government personnel. The promise, offer or delivery
to an official or employee of the U.S. government of a gift,
favor or other gratuity in violation of these rules would
not only violate Company policy but is also a civil or criminal
offense. State and local governments, as well as foreign governments,
often have similar rules.
14 - Reporting any Illegal or
Unethical Behavior
Employees are encouraged to talk to supervisors, managers
or other appropriate personnel about observed behavior, which
they believe may be illegal or a violation of this Code of
Conduct or Company policy or when in doubt about the best
course of action in a particular situation. It is the policy
of the Company not to allow retaliation for reports made in
good faith by employees of misconduct by others. Employees
are expected to cooperate in internal investigations of misconduct.
17 - Improper Influence on Conduct of Auditors
You are prohibited from directly or indirectly taking any
action to coerce, manipulate, mislead or fraudulently influence
the Company’s independent auditors for the purpose of
rendering the financial statements of the Company materially
misleading. Prohibited actions include but are not limited
to those actions taken to coerce, manipulate, mislead or fraudulently
influence an auditor: (1) to issue or reissue a report on
the Company’s financial statement that is not warranted
in the circumstances (due to material violations of generally
accepted accounting principles, generally accepted auditing
standards or other professional or regulatory standards);
(2) not to perform audit, review or other procedures required
by generally accepted auditing standards or other professional
standards; (3) not to withdraw an issued report; or (4) not
to communicate matters to the Company’s Audit Committee.
18 - Financial Reporting
As a public company, it is necessary that the Company’s
filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
be accurate and timely. The Company expects employees and
officers to take this responsibility very seriously and provide
prompt and accurate answers to inquiries related to the Company’s
public disclosure requirements.
The Company’s policy is to comply with all financial
reporting and accounting regulations applicable to the Company.
If any employee or officer has concerns or complaints regarding
accounting or auditing matters of the Company, then he or
she is encouraged to submit those concerns to their supervisors.
19 - Annual Acknowledgement
To help ensure compliance with this Code of Business Conduct,
the Company requires that all exempt salaried employees and
officers review the Code of Business Conduct and acknowledge
their understanding and adherence in writing on an annual
basis on the attached form.
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©
Copyright 2006 Arena Resources, Inc. All rights reserved. | |
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