CODE OF ETHICS POLICY
The successful operation and reputation
of Seaboard Marine, ltd. and its parent company, Seaboard Corporation as well as
its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, the “Company”) depend upon the professional
work performance and the ethical conduct of its directors, officers and employees.
As a highly valued subsidiary of Seaboard Corporation, the Company's reputation
for integrity and excellence requires careful compliance with the spirit and letter
of all laws and regulations, as well as a commitment to the highest standards of
personal and professional conduct.
This organization was built by
people with sound character and a long history of good commercial practices. There is an attitude of trust and respect
between the Company and its customers, employees, business partners, suppliers,
and shareholders. That trust and the Company’s reputation must be preserved and
protected. Directors, officers and
employees have a duty to support the goals and objectives of the Company, and to
act in a way that will always merit the continued confidence of those who have placed
a reliance on the Company.
Accordingly, the Company adopts
the following Code of Ethics:
I.
Honest and Ethical Conduct
Directors, officers and employees
shall exhibit and promote the highest standards of honest and ethical conduct by:
·
Encouraging and rewarding professional
integrity thereby eliminating coercion, fear of reprisal, or alienation from the
Company itself, which can act as barriers and inhibit responsible and ethical behavior.
·
Avoiding, prohibiting and eliminating
any conflict of interest or appearance of a conflict of interest between the Company
and what could result in personal gain for a director, officer or employee of the
Company, as defined in the attached Conflict of Interest policy.
·
Following a process for employees
of the Company to inform senior management of practices which deviate from honest
and ethical behavior.
·
Demonstrating their personal support
for such policies and procedures which will be encouraged by periodic communication
from senior management reinforcing these ethical standards throughout the Company.
·
Acting in the best interests of
the Company in order to preserve the Company’s reputation as a professional company
operating with integrity and good character.
·
Employees, agents, and representatives
may not request, receive or collect personal compensation in connection with services
provided by the Company.
·
Employees, agents, and representatives
may not charge, demand, or collect compensation for the transportation of property
and for any service related thereto except according to the rates, tariffs, tolls
and other charges as shown in the Company’s tariff sheets or filed service contracts.
As such, any solicitation received from a customer or other person by employees,
agents, and representatives for a rebate, either directly or indirectly, must be
rejected.
II.
Financial Records and Periodic
Reports
Directors, officers and employees,
to the extent applicable within the scope of their job functions, shall 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 established Company policies and
applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
·
Reports and documents the Company
files with, or submits to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or other mandated
public communications and disclosures, contain full, fair, accurate, timely and
understandable information.
III.
Anti-Competitive Conduct
Directors, officers and employees shall not
enter into any agreement, understanding or arrangement with any competitor about
prices, territory restrictions, refusals to sell, allocation of business, or collaborative
bidding, or engage in any other type of anti‑competitive practice in violation of
applicable laws or regulations.
IV.
Compliance with Applicable Laws,
Rules and Regulations
Directors, officers and employees
shall comply with all federal, state and local statutes, regulations and administrative
procedures in the course of all conduct on behalf of the Company, including the
United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977, which provides in part:
· The FCPA, in summary, states that no director, officer, employee or third party agent acting on behalf of the company shall make, authorize, offer or give anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, political party, political candidate or employee of any foreign government department, agency or instrumentality thereof, or to any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of the foregoing, for the purpose of influencing any act or decision in any such person’s official capacity, or inducing any such person to use their influence with any foreign government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof to assist acquiring or retaining business.
· As an exception to the above, it is acceptable to make a facilitating or expediting payment to a foreign official, political party, or party official; the purpose of which is to expedite or secure the performance of a routine governmental action by a foreign official, political party or party official. For example, obtaining permits, licenses or other official documents, expediting lawful customs clearances, obtaining the issuance of entry or exit visas, providing police protection, mail pick-up and delivery, providing phone service, and performing actions that are wholly unconnected to the award of new business or the continuation of prior business, could all be "routine governmental action." Routine governmental action does not mean a decision by a foreign official to award new business or to continue business with a particular party (e.g., to obtain a discretionary license or be granted a concession). As a matter of company policy, facilitating payments should be made with management approval or immediate notification if prior approval is not possible. The company should maintain the ability to timely show all facilitating payments made during a given time period and their proper accounting classification.
· The laws governing participation by companies in the political process of other countries vary widely. In certain countries, contributions to the political process (including contributions to political parties) are lawful and expected as a matter of good corporate citizenship. In foreign jurisdictions where corporate political contributions are lawful, contributions by the Company or by respective affiliates may be appropriate if prudent in amount and consistent with good judgment.
· Third party agents acting on behalf of the company with any foreign official, political party, political candidate or employee thereof should be made aware of the restrictions and obligations contained in this Section as their improper actions can be deemed violations by the company. If questions arise around provisions of the FCPA please contact the Seaboard Corporation General Counsel for clarification and explanation.
V.
Related Policies
In addition to the general policies
above, the Company adopts the following additional conduct-related policies as part
of the Code of Ethics:
·
Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality
These policies are attached. As
a condition of employment, each employee of the Company must be familiar with these
policies and agree to abide by their provisions.
Violations of the content or spirit of this Code of Ethics and its related
provisions are unacceptable and may lead to disciplinary action up to and including
termination of employment or separation of ongoing business relationship with the
Company.
VI.
Reporting Violations
If anyone has knowledge of or is
suspicious of any breach of any section of this Code or is concerned whether circumstances
could lead to a violation of this Code, such person should report the matter to
one or more of the following: the person’s
immediate supervisor, the Seaboard Corporation Director of Human Resources or General
Counsel. Alternatively, the matter
may be reported by calling Seaboard Corporation’s dedicated toll free number, 866-676-8886,
which will be answered by Seaboard Corporation’s Director of Human Resources. If a caller prefers to raise concerns
anonymously, no attempt will be made to determine identity.
The Company will not allow any retaliation against an employee who acts in
good faith in reporting any such violation or suspected violation.
This Code of Ethics
covers a wide range of business practices.
It does not address every issue that may arise, but provides general guidance about
the Company’s expectations of proper conduct and basic ethical and legal responsibilities. All subsidiaries of Seaboard Corporation
shall adopt this Code of Ethics policy or a similar policy containing only such
changes as are approved by Seaboard Corporation’s Director of Human Resources.
Any questions as to the meaning of any provisions of this Code of Ethics policy,
or whether intended conduct is a violation of this policy, should be addressed to
the Seaboard Corporation Director of Human Resources or the Seaboard Corporation
General Counsel.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Seaboard Marine, ltd. and its parent company,
Seaboard Corporation, as well as its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively,
the “Company”) require directors, officers and employees to conduct their non‑work
activities in such a manner that they do not conflict with the best interests of
the Company or detract from the performance of their responsibilities.
Directors, officers and employees shall follow the general guidelines set
forth below. The failure of any employee
to adhere to these general guidelines may result in discipline, including termination
of employment.
1.
Conflicts of Interest:
A.
All directors, officers and employees of the
Company shall not have, directly or indirectly, any financial or other interest
in any entity which is a supplier or customer of the Company.
The foregoing shall not prohibit the ownership of not more than one percent
(1%) of the stock of any supplier or customer which is listed upon a national stock
exchange or actively traded in the over‑the‑counter market.
B.
Officers and employees shall not be employed
by another entity, participate in self‑employment, or serve another entity in any
manner where such activity affects the employee’s work efficiency or interferes
with the employee’s ability to act in the best interests of the Company.
Officers and employees whose job functions involve coordination with commercial
institutions shall not conduct similar business with such institutions for such
officer’s or employee’s own personal affairs or business.
C.
All officers and employees shall be required
to complete a form disclosing all known conflicts of interest, or questions regarding
such, to the Seaboard Corporation Director of Human Resources for review and acceptance
by the Company. The Company may require
a person with a conflict of interest to dispense of such conflict of interest. The failure of any person to complete
such form disclosing all conflicts of interests, to disclose all known conflicts
of interest or to dispense with a conflict of interest, when requested by the Company,
may result in discipline by the Company, including termination of employment.
2.
Personal Gain:
A.
All of the business affairs of the Company
with all parties, including government officials, suppliers, customers, unions and
competitors, shall always be conducted on an ethical, legal and arm’s length basis.
B.
Directors, officers and employees shall not
provide or accept payments, gifts,
or favorable business arrangements for the purpose of securing preferential consideration
for the Company or as inducement to enter into any transaction.
Examples of such prohibited conduct include giving or taking gifts, gratuities,
favors, loans, guarantees of loans, commissions, excessive entertainment, kickbacks,
rebates, and other types of financial inducements.
C.
Common business practice permits the offer
or acceptance of certain courtesies of nominal value, usually in the form of meals
and entertainment, provided objectivity of the parties will not be unduly affected.
3.
Confidential Information:
It is vital the privacy of the Company’s confidential
information be protected. Confidential
information includes proprietary, technical, business, financial, joint venture,
customer and employee information that is not available publicly.
It is the employee’s responsibility to know what information is confidential
and to obtain clarification when in doubt.
A.
Employees must not disclose confidential information
to any person outside of the Company, unless authorized to do so.
This includes, as prohibited, any disclosure of confidential information
to family and friends. Where confidential
information is entrusted to persons outside of the Company, efforts must be made
to ensure the continuing protection and confidentiality of that information. Within the Company, confidential information
should be disclosed only on a “need to know” basis.
B.
Employees must not use confidential information
for unauthorized purposes. They must
also take reasonable care to protect confidential information against loss, theft,
unauthorized access, alteration or misuse.
C.
Employees leaving the Company who have had
access to Company confidential information will be reminded of their continuing
responsibility to protect it and maintain its confidentiality.
The Company expects that employees joining it from other companies will not
disclose the confidential information to those companies.
POLICY WITH REGARD TO TRADING SEABOARD SECURITIES
1.
In General
In the course of their employment with
Seaboard Marine, ltd. or its parent company,
Seaboard Corporation, or its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, the “Company”),
directors, officers and employees frequently come into possession of confidential
and highly sensitive information concerning the Company, its customers, suppliers
or other corporations with which the Company has contractual relationships or may
be negotiating transactions. Much of
this information has a potential for affecting the market price of securities issued
by the corporations involved. Under
some circumstances, federal securities law imposes potentially substantial civil
and criminal penalties on persons who improperly obtain, use or provide material,
non‑public information, in connection with a purchase or sale of securities.
Also keep in mind, the Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”) may seek substantial civil penalties from any person who, at
the time of an insider trading violation, “directly or indirectly controlled the
person who committed such violation,” i.e., an employer.
As noted above, civil penalties for persons who control violators can equal
the greater of $1,000,000 or three times the profit gained or losses avoided. Employers may also be subject to criminal
penalties of $2,500,000 for insider trading violations committed by employees. Accordingly, when the maximum criminal
penalty is combined with the maximum civil penalty, employers of persons who trade
on the basis of insider information may be liable for up to $3,500,000 – even for
employee violations that yield a small profit gained or loss avoided.
The statute provides that any “controlling
person” may be liable for civil penalties up to the amount specified above if the
controlling person both (i) knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that
the employee was likely to engage in a violation; and (ii) failed to take
appropriate steps to prevent that violation before it occurred.
Moreover, in recent years, the SEC and governmental prosecutors have been
vigorously enforcing the insider trading laws against both individuals and institutions.
Given all of these factors, the Company has
determined to provide specific guidance concerning the propriety of various personal
transactions, and to impose specific procedures in certain cases to attempt reasonably
to ensure that neither the Company nor any of its directors, officers and employees
violates insider trading laws.
2.
Material Non‑Public Information
The federal securities laws and regulations
have been held to prohibit the purchase or sale of a security at a time when the
person trading in that security possesses material non‑public information concerning
the issuer of the security, or the market
for the security, which has not yet become a matter of general public knowledge
and which has been obtained or is being used in breach of a duty to maintain the
information in confidence. Whether
the information is proprietary information about the Company or information that
could have an impact on the Company’s stock price, employees must not pass the information
on to others. The penalties discussed
above apply, whether or not you derive any benefit from another’s actions.
“Material non‑public information” includes
information that is not available to the public at large which could affect the
market price of the security and to which a reasonable investor would attach importance
in deciding whether to buy, sell, or retain the security.
Examples of information that might be deemed material include the following: annual or quarterly financial results,
dividend increases or decreases, the declaration of a stock split or the offering
of additional securities, earnings estimates, changes in previously announced earnings
estimates, significant expansion or curtailment of operations, a significant increase
or decline in business, a significant merger or acquisition proposal or agreement,
unusual borrowings or securities offerings, major litigation, impending bankruptcy
or financial liquidity problems, significant changes in management, purchases or
sales of substantial assets, or the gain or loss of a substantial customer or supplier. This list is not exhaustive.
Other types of information may be material at any particular time, depending
upon the circumstances. It should be
noted that either positive or adverse information may be material.
Information is considered to be available to
the public only when it has been released to the public through appropriate channels
(e.g., by means of a press release or a statement from one of the Company’s senior
officers) and enough time has elapsed to permit the investment market to absorb
and evaluate the information. Once
public release has occurred, information will normally be regarded as absorbed and
evaluated within two or three days thereafter.
3.
Company Policy
As long as an officer, director or employee
has material non‑public information relating to the Company or any other issuer,
including any of the Company’s customers, it is Company policy that the officer,
director or employee may not directly or indirectly buy or sell the securities of
the Company or any other affected issuer.
Equally important, the information may not be passed along to others.
This policy shall apply to officers, directors and employees of the Company
or its subsidiaries and affiliates.
To avoid potential liability under this policy, all officers, directors and employees of the Company must not purchase or sell securities of the Company or of any other issuer of a security at a time when the officer, director or employee is aware of any material non‑public information about the Company or any issuer, regardless of how that information was obtained. The officer, director or employee also must not permit any member of his or her immediate family or anyone acting on his or her behalf, or anyone to whom he or she has disclosed the information, to purchase or sell such securities.
After the information has been publicly disclosed
through appropriate channels, a reasonable time should be allowed to elapse (at
least three business days) before trading in the security, to allow for public dissemination
and evaluation of the information.
Without limiting the generality of the policy
stated herein, no director or officer of the Company or its subsidiaries and affiliates
or other employee possessing material non-public information may make any purchase
or sale of securities of the Company (i) from the date two weeks prior to the end
of each fiscal quarter until the beginning of the third business day after the public
release of earnings for such quarter; (ii) from the time of the public release of
any material information until the beginning of the third business day after such
release; (iii) during any period when he or she is aware that the Company expects
to make a public release of material information in the near future; and (iv) during
any other period when he or she has knowledge of any “material inside information”
concerning the Company.
4.
Application of Policy to Family Members
and Affiliates
The foregoing requirements also apply to any
purchase or sale of securities of the Company by a family member or others sharing
the same address or by a corporation, partnership, trust or other entity owned or
controlled by a director, officer or employee.
5.
Prohibition of Short-Sales
Federal securities laws prohibit any short
sale or any short sale “against the box” of Company securities by any officers,
directors or greater than ten‑percent shareholders.
A short sale is the sale of a security either not owned by the seller, or
if owned, not delivered (the so‑called short sale “against the box”), which involves
the borrowing of shares by the seller’s broker for the account of the seller and
delivery of the borrowed shares to the buying broker.
At some point in the future, the short seller must purchase the securities
to cover the short position. Because
the short seller hopes that he or she will be able to purchase at a price lower
than the price at which the short sale was made, a short seller expects a security
to decline in market value from present levels.
Since short sales can depress the price of securities, the Company requires
that none of its officers, directors or employees ever make short sales of the Company’s
securities (whether or not such short sales would be permitted under the federal
securities laws).
6.
Prohibited Practices
In addition, it is the Company’s policy that
officers, directors and employees should not engage in any of the following activities
with respect to the securities of the Company:
A.
Trading
in securities on a short‑term basis.
Any security purchased must be held for a minimum of six (6) months before sale,
unless the security is subject to forced sale, e.g., as a consequence of merger
or acquisition;
B.
Purchases on margin without the prior, written
consent of the Company after disclosure to the Company’s Board of Directors;
C.
Short sales; or
D.
Buying or selling put or call options.