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Ethics
The Code contains the 20
Articles listed below and is patterned after the International Business
Brokers Association’s Code of Ethics. All PBBA members are required to
adhere to this Code. PENNSYLVANIA BUSINESS BROKERS ASSOCIATION CODE
OF ETHICS Article One: The business broker should continually stay informed as to trends affecting business opportunities. Article Two: The business broker shall make a reasonable effort to protect the public and all parties to a transaction against fraud, misrepresentation, or unethical practices in the area of business opportunities. Article Three: The business broker shall be responsible to recommend clients use attorneys and tax accountants for independent advice on transactions, original financial statements and tax returns. Article Four: The business broker should keep moneys coming into the broker’s possession in trust for other persons in a special bank account, separated from personal or other business funds. Article Five: The business broker, for the protection of all parties with whom the broker deals, should see that financial obligations and commitments regarding business opportunity transactions of which the broker is a part, are in writing expressing the exact agreement of the parties. The broker should also see that copies of such agreements are placed in the hands of all parties involved. Article Six: A business broker, in accepting employment as an agent, pledges to protect and promote the interests of the client. This obligation of absolute loyalty and honesty to the client’s interest is primary, but does not relieve the broker from the obligation of dealing fairly with all parties to the transaction. Article Seven: Since the business broker is representing one or another party to a transaction, compensation from more than one party should not be accepted without full knowledge of all parties to the transaction. Article Eight: The business broker shall not serve as both principal and consultant on a transaction unless a full disclosure is made in writing to all principals involved. Article Nine: The listing of a business should be in writing. Exclusive listing agreements should be urged and employed by business brokers. Article Ten: The business broker, when acting as an agent in the management of a business, should not accept any commission, rebate, or profit on expenditures made for an owner without the owner’s knowledge and consent. Article Eleven: The business broker should not undertake to make an appraisal that is outside or beyond the scope of the broker’s experience without first obtaining the assistance of an authority on such types of property, unless the extent or lack of experience of the business broker is fully disclosed to the client. Article Twelve: When making a formal appraisal of a business opportunity, the business broker should not render an opinion without careful and thorough analysis and interpretation of all market and economic factors affecting the value of the business. Article Thirteen: When employment or fee is contingent upon the amount of an appraisal, the business broker should not undertake to make an appraisal or render an opinion of value on any property if the broker has a present or contemplated interest, unless such an interest is specifically disclosed in the appraisal. Article Fourteen: The business broker should not submit or advertise businesses without authority. In any offering, the price quoted should not be other than that agreed upon with the owner as the offering price. A business broker should always have written authorization to sell or purchase, as the case may be, from the prospective seller or purchaser. Said writing shall include all the material terms of the sale or purchase including price, term of the agreement and compensation to be paid to the business broker. Article Fifteen: All bona fide written offers will be submitted to the seller. The decision to accept or reject an offer remains with the seller at all times. Article Sixteen: The business broker will not engage in the practice of disclosing one buyer’s offer to another buyer as a sales technique. Article Seventeen: The business broker should seek no unfair advantage over fellow brokers. Article Eighteen: The business broker should conduct business to avoid controversies with fellow brokers, and should cooperate with the association and its officers in all matters, including investigations, censure, discipline, or dismissal of members who, by their conduct, prejudice their professional status or the reputation of the association. Article Nineteen: The business broker will maintain necessary confidentiality while conducting the sale of a business, and will require the same from prospective buyers and other brokers. Article Twenty: The business broker shall not deny equal professional services to any person for reasons of race, creed, sex or country of national origin. The business broker shall not be a party to any plan or agreement to discriminate against a person or persons on the basis of race, creed, sex, or country of national origin. Adopted in April, 2000
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