Southern AgCredit (SAC or the Association) is firmly committed to a culture of integrity and honesty and conducting business in a legal and ethical manner as set forth in our Code of Ethics. Accordingly, the Association requires that its Third-Party Service Providers likewise conduct their businesses in an ethical manner and comply with the Association’s Third-Party Provider Guidelines set forth herein.

The following Guidelines set minimum standards for ethical conduct for Third-Party Service Providers[1] (TPSPs) who do business with the Association:

●          Perform services on behalf of the Association in an ethical manner, avoiding any activity that involves the appearance of impropriety.

●          Disclose known Conflicts of Interest. A Conflict of Interest is a set of circumstances or appearance thereof where a person has a financial interest in a transaction, relationship, or activity that could or does actually affect (or has the appearance of affecting) that person’s ability to perform official duties and responsibilities in a totally impartial manner and in the best interest of the institution when viewed from the perspective of a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts.

●          TPSPs must disclose known Conflicts of Interest to the Association’s Standards of Conduct Official.

●          Protect any confidential or proprietary information that belongs to SAC. This requires that TPSPs take appropriate steps to ensure that confidential and proprietary information is used only for purposes of performing services for the Association and that only authorize personnel of the TPSP have access to such confidential or proprietary information.

●          Implement and maintain, for the duration of the contractual relationship with the Association, an information security program designed to protect against the inadvertent disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, confidential information in light of the services and work to be provided by the TPSP; immediately notify the Association of any inadvertent disclosure of or unauthorized access to, confidential information.

●          Comply with all applicable laws, codes, and regulations in the jurisdictions in which the TPSPs operate.

●          SAC expects its TPSPs to inform and educate their employees, officers, directors, agents, and subcontractors about these Guidelines.

●          TPSPs may contact the Association’s Standards of Conduct Official at jeff.williams@southernagcredit.com or (601) 499-2859 to notify the Association of any required notifications above.  Additionally, TPSPs can utilize SAC’s whistleblower hotline via dialing toll-free, within the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and Canada: 844-805-0097 or the website: http://www.southernagcredit.ethicspoint.com.

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[1] Third-Party Service Provider:  Any person or entity that has entered into a business arrangement with SAC, by contract or otherwise, that could have a Conflict of Interest impacting their ability to impartially perform services in the best interests of SAC.  This term may include a company with access to confidential or sensitive information or who has an ongoing relationship with SAC.