Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

Implementation and Enforcement Tools 95personnel) interfere with the main obligations of those publicofficials in question, whereas “conflicts of interest” aresituations in which public officials may have the opportunityto influence their agency’s decision in ways that could leadto personal gains. In this context, “conflict of commitment”can be considered a mild form of conflict of interest becausethe outcome does not necessarily result in direct personalbenefits.Raile (2004) outlines examples of common conflicts of interest:•••••••••misusing information gained through one’s position;engaging in influence peddling or trafficking;representing or advising private parties in relation to matterspending before certain governmental entities;employing or contracting with entities regulated by thestate;serving in more than one government positionsimultaneously;appointing relatives to government positions;participating in government processes in which the official,a relative, or a business partner or associate has an interest;engaging in business, employment, or other financial relationshipswith non-governmental entities, the regulation ofwhose activities falls within the official’s public function;misusing public functions to benefit a political organizationor partisan political campaign;accruing wealth illicitly (wrongdoing presumed whenincreases in wealth are not commensurate with lawfulsources of income).•If personal gain and interference with professional objectivityare the primary conditions or criteria used, it should not be difficultto determine whether or not a conflict of interest exists or hasbeen acted on. One approach is to outline a strict code of conductand require public officials to declare or disclose their interestsand assets. However, if the conflict of interest does not necessarilyinvolve financial or economic gain, it may be difficult to quantifythe extent of wrongdoing and thus to determine appropriate sanctions.Besides financial or economic interests, public officials canADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific