The Florida Senate

420.512  Conflicts of interest.--

(1)  If any member, officer, or employee of the corporation shall have an interest, either direct or indirect, in any contract to which the corporation is, or is to be, a party or in any sponsor or in any lending institution requesting a loan from, or offering to sell mortgage loans or obligations to, the corporation, such interest shall be disclosed to the corporation in writing and shall be set forth in the minutes of the corporation. The member, officer, or employee having such interest shall not participate in any action by the corporation with respect to the contract, sponsor, or lending institution.

(2)  Nothing in this section shall be deemed or construed to limit the right of any member, officer, or employee of the corporation to acquire an interest in bonds of the corporation or have an interest in any banking institution in which the bonds of the corporation are, or are to be, deposited or which is, or is to be, acting as trustee or paying agent under any bond resolution, trust indenture, or similar instrument to which the corporation is a party.

(3)  A member, officer, or covered employee of the corporation shall not participate in any political fundraising activities other than for purposes of the corporation's programs through solicitation of contributions from service providers, underwriters on the corporation's approved managing underwriters' list, or their agents, including underwriters' counsel, officers, principals, and professional employees of underwriters on the corporation's approved managing underwriters' list.

(4)  A member, officer, or covered employee of the corporation shall not be an applicant in any program administered by the corporation that is competitively bid or selected. A member, officer, or covered employee shall not have a financial interest in, and shall not be a member of a board or an officer or an employee of, an applicant in any program administered by the corporation which is competitively bid or selected.

(5)  Service providers shall comply with the following standards of conduct as a condition of eligibility to be considered or retained to provide services. For purposes of paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) only, the term "service provider" means and is limited to a law firm, an investment bank, or a credit underwriter, and the agents, officers, principals, and professional employees of the service provider.

(a)  A service provider may not make contributions in any amounts, directly or indirectly, for or on behalf of candidates for Governor, nor shall any service provider make a contribution in excess of $100 to any candidate for a member of the State Board of Administration other than the Governor in Florida while the service provider is included in an applicant pool from which service providers are selected to provide services to the corporation, while the service provider provides services to the corporation, and for the longer of a period of 2 years thereafter or for a period through the next general election for Governor.

(b)  The service provider shall not participate in fundraising activities for or on behalf of candidates for Governor in Florida while the service provider is included in an applicant pool from which service providers are selected to provide services to the corporation, while the service provider provides services to the corporation, and for the longer of a period of 2 years thereafter or for a period through the next general election for Governor.

(c)  Service providers shall provide to the corporation a statement that the service provider has not contributed to candidates for Governor or contributed in excess of the amounts allowed by this section for a member of the State Board of Administration or engaged in fundraising activities for or on behalf of candidates for Governor in Florida since the effective date of this section or during the 24 months preceding the service provider's application to provide services to the corporation, whichever period is shorter.

(d)  The service provider may not engage in prohibited business solicitation communications with officers, members, or covered employees of the corporation.

(e)  If a service provider is in doubt as to whether its activities, or the activities of its principals, agents, or employees, violate the provisions of this section, it may request a declaratory statement in accordance with the applicable rule and s. 120.565.

(f)  If the corporation determines that a service provider has failed to meet the provisions of this section, it shall consider the magnitude of the violation and whether there has been a pattern of violations in determining whether to terminate or decline to enter into contracts with the service provider.

(6)  Each solicitation for a service provider to provide services shall require the service provider to formally acknowledge the conditions in subsection (5) and to agree, if selected, to abide by the conditions. When appropriate, the acknowledgment must include a statement that the service provider is currently in compliance with the conditions.

(7)  Each contract or other form of agreement to retain a service provider to provide services must incorporate the conditions in subsection (5) and a provision allowing unilateral cancellation by the corporation for refusal of the service provider to comply with the terms of eligibility.

History.--s. 1, ch. 80-161; s. 4, ch. 81-51; s. 22, ch. 97-167; s. 12, ch. 98-56.