Financial and accounting officers and managers hold an important and elevated role in corporate governance. Financial and accounting officers and managers are vested with both the responsibility and authority to protect, balance, and preserve the interests of all of the Company’s stakeholders, including shareholders, clients, employees, suppliers, and citizens of the communities in which business is conducted. Financial and accounting officers and managers fulfill this responsibility by prescribing and enforcing the policies and procedures employed in the operation of the Company’s financial organization, and by demonstrating the following:

• Financial and accounting officers and managers will exhibit and promote the highest standards of honest and ethical conduct through the establishment and operation of policies and procedures that:
  Encourage professional integrity in all aspects of the financial organization, by eliminating inhibitions and barriers to responsible behavior, such as coercion, fear of reprisal, or alienation from the financial organization or the enterprise itself.
  Prohibit and eliminate the occurrence of conflicts between what is in the best interest of the enterprise and what could result in material personal gain for a member of the financial organization, including Financial and Accounting Officers and Managers.Provide a mechanism for members of the finance organization to inform senior management of deviations in practice from policies and procedures governing honest and ethical behavior.
• Financial and Accounting Officers and Managers will establish and manage the enterprise transaction and reporting systems and procedures to ensure that:
  Business transactions are properly authorized and completely and accurately recorded on the Company’s books and records in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and established Company financial policy.  The retention or proper disposal of Company records shall be in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.  Periodic financial communications and reports will be delivered in a manner that facilitates a high degree of clarity of content and meaning so that readers and users can determine their significance and consequence.