BTL Chairman Says Safeguards Exist to Prevent Conflicts of Interest

BTL’s Chairman, Mark Lizarraga, in response to the perception of conflict of interest has essentially said that there are guardrails in place to prevent such moves.  His response was triggered in this morning’s press conference at the St. Thomas Street offices.

Mark Lizarraga, Chairman: “One of the first things we did when we came to BTL was we put in a conflict of interest policy. We put in the small shareholder as the chairperson for the internal audit subcommittee of the board. That chairperson reports directly to the board not to the CEO or not to the chairman as was once the practice. So we’ve tried to separate that. When the conversations became serious this time around, I declared my potential conflict, the perception of conflict. We have a declaration form that the company has whenever we’re in these positions. Directors have used it in the past when they perceive conflict situations. And I’ll be honest with you, my position when it comes to the board will be that I will have to recuse myself.”