| (a) The Chief Compliance Officer oversees the Institute's
activities related to the report and investigation of suspected compliance
violations, including fraud, waste, and abuse.
(b) To encourage good faith reporting of suspected
noncompliance, the Institute shall establish a system to receive confidential
reports of suspected instances or events that failed to comply with
the Institute's applicable laws, rules and policies, including allegations
of fraud, waste, and abuse. The Institute may use a telephonic and/or
electronic mailbox system, such as an "ethics hotline" to
preserve confidentiality of communications regarding suspected compliance
violations and the anonymity of a person making a compliance report
or participating in a compliance investigation.
(1) Information describing how to report a suspected
compliance violation, including a designated telephone number and
electronic mail address for confidentially reporting suspected compliance
violations, shall be displayed on the Institute's Internet website
and included in all Institute contracts and agreements.
(2) Information describing how to report a suspected
compliance violation shall be included in the Institute's employee
policies manual, and discussed internally with Institute Employees
and included in ethics training sessions.
(3) Only good faith reports made to the designated
telephone number or electronic mailbox shall be investigated.
(c) The Institute shall implement procedures to investigate
a good faith report of a suspected violation, including:
(1) The prompt initiation of an investigation by the
Chief Compliance Officer;
(2) Assignment to an appropriate individual or individuals
to conduct the investigation, including the Audit Subcommittee, the
Compliance Office, General Counsel, the Internal Auditor, or outside
experts or advisors; and
(3) A recommendation for appropriate corrective actions,
if any are warranted by the investigation, made to the Oversight Committee.
(d) To the extent allowed by law, the Institute will
preserve the confidential nature of the good faith report of a suspected
violation, including the identity of the individual submitting the
report.
(e) The Chief Compliance Officer shall maintain a
log that tracks the receipt, investigation, and resolution of reports
made regarding compliance violations.
(f) In performing duties under this rule, the Chief
Compliance Officer has direct access to the Oversight Committee. The
Chief Compliance Officer shall report to the Oversight Committee at
least quarterly on compliance activity.
(g) The following information is confidential and
not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Texas Government Code,
unless the information relates to an individual who consents to the
disclosure:
(1) information that directly or indirectly reveals
the identity of an individual who made a report to the Institute's
Compliance Program office, sought guidance from the office, or participated
in an investigation conducted under the Compliance Program;
(2) information that directly or indirectly reveals
the identity of an individual who is alleged to have or may have planned,
initiated, or participated in activities that are the subject of a
report made to the Compliance Program if, after completing an investigation,
the Compliance Program determines the report to be unsubstantiated
or without merit; and
(3) other information that is collected or produced
in a Compliance Program investigation if releasing the information
would interfere with an ongoing compliance investigation.
(h) The Oversight Committee may meet in a closed session
under Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, to discuss an on-going compliance
investigation into issues related to fraud, waste or abuse of state
resources.
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