Code of Ethics and Expectations for Service Providers

The purpose of this document is to establish guidelines and clarify expectations of IR service providers to help ensure a satisfactory and mutually beneficial experience while engaged with CIRI.

The IR role is multi-disciplinary covering capital markets, securities law, regulatory disclosure, accounting, finance, communications, ESG and strategy. Service Providers span all these disciplines, providing a broad array of services and products that are key to the successful execution of the IR strategy, program and responsibilities.

Service providers may join CIRI as Associate members, holding the same rights as other members including the opportunity to vote, be a member or Chair of the Chapter Executive and/or be a member of the National Board. They play a valuable role in supporting the association and IR profession and are critical to upholding, encouraging and advancing the work that IR professionals do.

Service providers contribute to the CIRI community as business partners and community stakeholders. Their contributions as sponsors, speakers, exhibitors and allies make CIRI's professional development and networking events more successful and resources more meaningful.

In 2022, CIRI established the SPAC to represent the voice of the service provider community and to better understand how this stakeholder group can best contribute to and benefit from being involved with CIRI. To learn more about the Committee Guidelines, click here.

In general terms, CIRI has the same expectations of professional conduct for service providers as for all CIRI members – that they at all times be respectful towards all members. However, given some unique characteristics of service providers, the SPAC developed a Code of Ethics specific to Associate members, which all Associate members agree to adhere to.

All attendees must adhere to CIRI’s Code of Conduct, which they agree to when registering for an event. In addition, the SPAC has developed some expectations for exhibiting and sponsoring service providers.

CIRI’s events are focused on thought leadership and education. During the Conference, unsolicited service and product promotion outside of the exhibit area and in the conference hotel and surrounding area are not appropriate. Only sponsoring and exhibiting companies may attend and engage attendees during the Conference onsite and offsite.

We will encourage IROs not to accept invitations to events from service providers not sponsoring or exhibiting at the Conference and to notify CIRI of violations, who will address them.

When exhibiting, service providers should:

1. Professionally, accurately and fairly represent your service and product offerings.
2. Respect one another’s booth space. All exhibitors are at a CIRI event for the same reason – to promote their product and/or service and to meet and network with clients and potential clients. If you are not exhibiting, you should avoid other service providers’ booths entirely.
3. During exhibitor hours, always have someone from your team up and available at your booth to network with attendees.
4. Marketing materials are often costly. Respect other exhibitors’ marketing and proprietary materials, samples, research, swag etc. If making marketing materials available with proprietary information, consider handing or sending them directly to the IRO/IR consultant.

When sponsoring, service providers should:

1. Represent your company professionally.
2. When speaking or moderating/participating on a panel, impart your thought leadership without promoting your company and its products/services.
3. Be respectful of the opinions of others on the panel or in the audience.