Hello All, The minutes from the Board Governance Committee meeting of 15 September are now public. See: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-bgc-15sep11-en.htm The relevant resolution relating to Ethics and Conflicts of interest is: "Ethics and Conflicts of Interest - The Committee held a long and detailed discussion about the nature of conflicts of interest, including the requirements relating to disclosure of existing, future or potential future conflicts of interest, as well as abstention from voting in particular circumstances. The Committee also discussed in detail how ethics guidelines compliment a Conflicts of Interest Policy, and the need for ICANN to establish a formal Ethics regime. The BGC approved a motion leading to the following actions: Actions: * The CEO and the General Counsel are to review and propose revisions to the Conflicts of Interest Policy to clarify issues, including disclosure and abstention requirements, surrounding future interests or potential future interests. * The CEO and the General Counsel are to engage an external firm with expertise in advising on ethical issues, to advise and help develop an ICANN Ethics Regime or set of Guidelines for the Board, the staff and the community. * A work party of Cherine Chalaby, Bill Graham and Ray Plzak as current members of the BGC to review and guide staff efforts to revise the Conflicts of Interest Policy and development of the Ethics Regime or set of Guidelines. * Staff to provide BGC with progress report, and BGC to further discuss process and timeline in Dakar." Note also that the BGC has asked the staff to schedule a 90 minute public session in Dakar to provide the community with a briefing on the current conflicts policy and possible changes, and to seek community input. I will provide further details once the details are public. Regards, Bruce Tonkin