Conflict of Interest. Husband and wife as officers and signer's of checks

[Guest Bob]

We have a non-profict board with an opening at Treasurer. The wife of the VP has been nominated Treasurer. In our organization, the President, VP and Treasurer has signing authority and there needs to be two signatures on each check. Is there a conflict of interest and can this take place within RR? 

[Gary Novosielski]

No rule in RONR would prevent it.

 

If the voters do not approve of the situation, either the VP or his wife may lose the election.  Or not.

[Guest Matt Rascon]

In my experience, people tend to throw around the term "conflict of interest" without a true understanding of what that is. Let's start with the dictionary definition: 

A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests (financial, emotional, or otherwise), one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation of the individual or organization.

Here's a textbook example: Company A is considering a merger with Company B. A board member of Company A owns stock in Company B. The decision to merger has a direct effect on the value of Company B's stock, thus having a direct effect on the board member.

So, apply this principle to the husband-and-wife team on the board (VP and treasurer). What personal gain could the couple acquire from this arrangement? Yes, it's possible for both to sign a check, empty the association's funds, and run off to Tahiti, but that isn't conflict of interest, that's embezzlement. As long as the board has control over how and where funds are spent, and the couple obey the law, there should be no problem. Unless, that is, they have the power to outvote the rest of the board, and vote themselves to Tahiti.