Council, 23 September 1998.

Guidelines for conduct of directors.

  1. Directors must act honestly and in good faith in what the director believes to be the best interests of the company. Directors must ensure that all shareholders and classes of shareholder are treated fairly according to their rights as between each other.
  2. Directors must carry out their duties in a lawful manner and use reasonable endeavours to ensure that the company conducts its business in accordance with the law and with a high standard of commercial morality.
  3. Directors should avoid conflicts of interest so far as is possible. Where a conflict or potential conflict arises, as a minimum they must adhere scrupulously to the procedures provided by law and by the constitution of the company for dealing with conflicts and with the position of directors having an interest in a particular contract or issue. A director who has a continuing conflict of interest of a material nature should consider resignation as a director of the company.
  4. Directors should be diligent, attend board meetings and devote sufficient time to make and keep themselves familiar with the nature of the company's business and the environment in which it operates. They should be aware of all statutory and regulatory requirements affecting their company and, where applicable, the requirements of bodies such as the New Zealand Stock Exchange, and see that these are observed.
  5. Directors must observe the confidentiality of non public information acquired by them as directors and not disclose it to any other person without the authority of the board. A director who is nominated by, or who has special allegiance to a particular shareholder or group of shareholders, may only disclose confidential information to such shareholders with the authority of the board and in strict compliance with any procedures prescribed by law or the constitution of the company.
  6. Directors of public issuers should ensure that their company has in place an approved procedure for the buying and selling of shares or securities in the company by directors or their relatives or associates. Directors should not engage in short term trading in the company's shares or securities. Directors should notify the board in advance of any intended transaction by them or their relatives or associates involving shares or securities in the company.
  7. Directors must act in accordance with their fiduciary duties. They should comply with the spirit as well as the letter of the law and remember that in addition to purely legal requirements there is a standard of ethical and moral behaviour against which all their actions can be judged.
  8. A director should not, bind himself or herself to a pre-determined stance or course of action in the public arena which may then significantly impact on decisions taken at the board table.
  9. A director may not publicly criticise a company or its subsidiaries, or dissent from a collective board decision in a manner likely to damage confidence in the company or its subsidiaries.
  10. Directors must familiarise themselves with the legal risks, both to the company and to the individual director, involved with the position, and take all reasonable steps to minimise such risks. This policy was adopted by Council on 23 September 1998 and is endorsed by CCHL for application to all companies in the CCHL group.

This policy was adopted by Council on 23 September 1998 and is endorsed by CCHL for application to all companies in the CCHL group.