It is the responsibility of the Ethics Committee to receive and evaluate complaints about non-ethical conduct that constitute an infringement of the values, principles and norms of the Ethics Code of Counselors, directors, employees and companies providing third party services for Itaipu. Manifestations can be done verbally or in writing, by e-mail or by telephone. [102-17]

Its composition is of six members, divided equally between Brazilians and Paraguayans, who are employees appointed by the Executive Board, with at least one representative of the Legal Management of each country. The mandate is three years, and there is only one renewal. Decisions are adopted by a majority of votes, in meetings held every two months. Only deliberations are made with the presence of all the members.

The Committee may designate two members to carry out preliminary analysis of authorship and nationality before the procedure has been established. After the analysis, a report is sent to the General Directors with recommendations. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, participation in meetings and deliberations of members who have any kind of kinship or relationship with the investigation is prohibited. [102-25]

In cases of infringement committed by a member of the Committee, the Executive Board designates a group responsible for the investigation. In cases of offences committed by Director or Counselor, the assessment is performed by the Ethics Committee “ad hoc”, with members designated by the Council, Eletrobras and Ande.

From 2018 onwards, it was determined that the General Board should periodically receive reports from this committee. Previously, reports were sent only when requested. The adoption of indicators and performance goals of the organ should be debated after the modifications brought by the implementation of the Compliance Advisory.

As occurred in the General Ombudsman, there were no records of complaints related to cases of corruption or discrimination in 2018. [205-3, 406-1]

Other Initiatives

• Independent binational Internal Audit, which works in conjunction with Brazilian and Paraguayan auditing teams and responds directly to the Executive Board. In 2018, an updated standard that specifies the profile of the chief auditor of both countries, a professional who may be appointed from the own staff or through an external selective process;
• External audit contracted by binational bidding, which operates with joint teams of Brazilian and Paraguayan auditors, to verify accounting processes and financial statements and is changed every two years;
• Review of the sponsorship policy, defining the procedures relating to its concession and the respective accounts, in addition to periodic assessments carried out by internal and external audits;
• Ethics Code;
• Conduct Code for Suppliers;
• Hiring of rating companies to assess financial strength and the ability to pay debts;
• Requirement to provide accounts for the application of funds passed through agreements and sponsorships.