1.      General Provisions

1.1.      Code of Ethics (hereinafter referred to as the Code) of the Latvian Real Estate Association (Latvijas nekustamo īpašumu darījumu asociācija, hereinafter referred to as LANĪDA) establishes principles, norms and standards of business conduct and professional ethics for the Members of LANĪDA (hereinafter referred to as LANĪDA Members) to honour their obligations with the greatest integrity; to be objective, skilful, honest and reliable in their work; to observe relevant laws, regulations and standards; to respect commercial secrets and confidentiality of information on transactions and customers; to meet highest ethical standards in their conduct and performance, as well as to timely identify and handle potential conflicts of interest.

1.2.      The Code shall be an integral part of work organization at LANĪDA, it shall define the quality of services that society can expect from cooperation with LANĪDA Members.

1.3.      The introduction of the Code shall consolidate the reputation of LANĪDA on the real estate services market.

1.4.      The introduction of the Code shall establish norms of relations among LANĪDA Members and LANĪDA with the help of resources at LANĪDA’s disposal, create an environment that shall motivate and encourage adherence to ethic values in the relations among LANĪDA Members, and offer a relevant course of action in order to timely prevent conflicts of interest.

2.      Fundamental Values of LANĪDA Corporate identity

2.1.      LANĪDA, as an organised structure, is part of society, and in its work LANĪDA makes an impact on the social environment; LANĪDA is aware of its responsibility to society for the work it does.

2.2.      LANĪDA shall recognise the need for competition and treat its competitors and their business fairly, and shall not attempt to obtain confidential information from its competitors that it might use in pursuit of own interests.

2.3.      Any information publicly provided by LANĪDA shall be prepared professionally and be clear, unambiguous and in accord with the law.

2.4.      The official opinion of LANĪDA shall only be expressed by those LANĪDA Members that shall have received LANĪDA authorisation for this, and LANĪDA shall communicate with society via LANĪDA Internet website or the mass media.

2.5.      In communication with society, LANĪDA Members shall hold LANĪDA reputation and prestige in high regard, and they shall not make such statements that could raise questions about LANĪDA Member’s loyalty and their civic and moral position.

3.      Key Principles of the Code

3.1.      Adherence to the key principles of the Code shall help pursue the strategy, the goals and the tasks set by LANĪDA executive management, and successful implementation thereof.

3.2.      LANĪDA Members, in performance of their duties, shall observe laws and regulations of the Republic of Latvia and the European Union, as well as regulatory enactments issued by LANĪDA for its members.

3.3.      LANĪDA Members have a high opinion of professional, precise, creative work, and they shall strive to do their work as good as they can so as to ensure high quality of services and encourage society’s confidence in LANĪDA. Any activity by LANĪDA Members in providing intermediary services to customers shall always meet the highest ethical norms.

3.4.      LANĪDA Members shall be personally responsible for the quality of their services, and LANĪDA Members shall always strive to act so as to consolidate society’s trust in LANĪDA.

3.5.      Society’s confidence in LANĪDA depends on independence and integrity of each LANĪDA Member, therefore, LANĪDA Members shall do their work honestly and consistently, and take whatever actions are called for should they ascertain any unfair activity.

3.6.      The strategy of LANĪDA work and pursuance of the organisation’s goals depends on trust that clients and society place in the organisation, thus LANĪDA Members shall treat all their clients equally, fairly and in accordance with the law, without any kind of discrimination.

4.      Obligations of LANĪDA Members

4.1.      With a view to maintain the reputation of LANĪDA, LANĪDA Members shall not be involved in any suspicious transactions, make every effort to maintain their personal financial affairs in good order, and timely honour their financial obligations.

4.2.      Each LANĪDA Member must be competent and have the knowledge of standards of the services, striving to acquire new experience and knowledge with the goal to offer and provide more professional and quality services to their clients.

4.3.      Before offering a service to a client, LANĪDA Members must make sure that they have the necessary qualifications and knowledge to provide such service; LANĪDA Members must present information about their qualifications and experience if they are requested to do so.

4.4.      LANĪDA Members, in advertising their services, shall not provide untrue or erroneous information via the mass media.

4.5.      LANĪDA Members shall avoid such situations that are incompatible with generally accepted norms of conduct and may have a negative impact on the reputation and image of LANĪDA.

5.      Relations Among LANĪDA Members

5.1.      Relations among LANĪDA Members have a direct effect on the reputation of LANĪDA, that is why all LANĪDA Members conduct in mutual relations with other LANĪDA Members shall have a positive effect on the process of mutual relations among LANĪDA Members.

5.2.      The mutual relations among LANĪDA Members shall be based on integrity and respect, without any discriminatory actions against others on the grounds of gender, race, colour, age, language, nationality, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, political, philosophic or religious views.

5.3.      In the mutual relations with other LANĪDA Members, each LANĪDA Member shall expect from the colleagues active contribution, fruitful cooperation, constructive criticism, the will to support each other and mutual trust.

5.4.      During the process of mutual relations among LANĪDA Members, each LANĪDA Member shall observe and respect its rights as well as the rights of the colleagues; be reliable and not hesitate to admit unethical or erroneous actions on its part and rectify them; respect each colleague’s professional skills and experience, and not attempt to make use of the mistakes or lack of experience of the colleagues; help the colleagues within one’s authority and offer then moral support; efficiently use one’s own and the colleague’s time and resources; participate in the dialogue that is being developed in the atmosphere of openness, mutual understanding and cooperation, listen to what the colleagues have to say and substantiate one’s own opinion in a fair manner; be considerate, cooperative, favourably-disposed towards the colleagues, avoid offending the colleagues but listen and respect them, treat unethical and offensive conduct as unacceptable; not disseminate erroneous information about the colleagues and not comment in public about their work; be responsible and do everything possible to perform tasks that are set by LANĪDA as well as its own duties.

5.5.      In a situation where a LANĪDA Member is for some reason unable to provide quality services to a client, the LANĪDA Member shall recommend another LANĪDA Member where the client could receive the service in question.

5.6.      LANĪDA Members shall not make public statements regarding operations of other LANĪDA Members; should a LANĪDA Member learn that a certain transaction (in the event of an exclusive contract) has been entrusted to another LANĪDA Member, he shall not take the transaction over as long as the client’s obligations to the colleague have not been fulfilled.

5.7.      LANĪDA Members shall resolve disputes and disagreements by way of constructive cooperation, and shall always find a solution to such situations. In the event a dispute or disagreement cannot be resolved by way of negotiations, it shall be reviewed by LANĪDA Arbitration Committee based on applications and explanations submitted by the parties to the dispute.

5.8.      Should any of the parties to the dispute be dissatisfied with the decision of LANĪDA Arbitration Committee, the party shall turn to courts pursuant to the procedure provided for in the law of the of the Republic of Latvia. If the parties to a transaction agree to pursue their case in a court of arbitration, the parties shall turn to the court of arbitration that they both agree upon.

6.      Relations Between LANĪDA Members and Clients

6.1.      In relations with clients, LANĪDA Members shall respect and he wishes and interests of their clients, and always provide clients with full information regarding the conditions of cooperation –services, types of settlement, conditions of remuneration, fulfilment of contracts and responsibility for failing to honour contractual obligations, so as to always give the client an opportunity to see if the services offered by LANĪDA Members meet the client’s requirements.

6.2.      LANĪDA Members shall always be fair, honest and favourably-disposed towards their clients, and never take any discriminatory actions against the clients, regardless of their financial situation, income, contract amount or their personal attitude to the client.

6.3.      Should a LANĪDA Member be involved in talks with more than one prospective partner in a property transaction, it shall accordingly inform all the parties involved in the transaction.

6.4.      When reviewing matters that concern clients’ interests (drawing up documents or taking decisions), LANĪDA Members shall provide the client with impartial, full and reliable information about the transaction.

7.      Conflict of Interest

7.1.      A conflict of interest is a situation where a LANĪDA Member has to make a decision, participate in taking a decision or perform other actions in its line of business that have, or may have, an effect on personal or material interests of the given LANĪDA Member.

7.2.      LANĪDA Members shall make every effort to prevent such situations where LANĪDA Members, in performing their duties, may find themselves in a conflict of interest.

7.3.      Information that LANĪDA Members provide to clients and prospective clients shall be clear, precise, correct and unambiguous.

8.      Confidentiality

8.1.      LANĪDA Members shall use and store information entrusted to them with due respect.

8.2.      LANĪDA Members in their work shall treat confidential information with due respect and make every effort to protect personal data of their clients, which may only be revealed with written permission from the client or in such cases as provided for in the laws and regulations of the Republic of Latvia and the European Union.

8.3.      LANĪDA Members shall not disclose confidential information to third parties, and it shall be their duty to prevent such information from being disclosed as a result of premeditated or accidental actions (or failure to act) on the part of other LANĪDA Members; LANĪDA Members shall promptly notify LANĪDA executive management about such cases or threats to confidentiality.

9.      Implementation of the Code

9.1.      The Code shall be available to all LANĪDA Members, and implementation of the Code shall depend on bona fides, good judgment and self-control of each and every LANĪDA Member.

9.2.      LANĪDA executive management shall be setting an example and organising LANĪDA work in such a way as to enforce the principles and norms of the Code.

9.3.      The Code shall be compulsory for all LANĪDA Members; LANĪDA executive management shall supervise implementation of the Code.

Approved at the General Meeting of the Members
of the Association on 22nd September, 2010