British Telecommunications Act 1981

4 (1) Before appointing a person to be a member of the Corporation the Secretary of State shall satisfy himself that that person will have no such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially the exercise and performance by him of his functions as a member of the Corporation, and the Secretary of State shall also satisfy himself from time to time with respect to every member of the Corporation that he has no such interest; and a person who is, or whom the Secretary of State proposes to appoint to be, a member of the Corporation shall, whenever requested by the Secretary of State so to do, furnish to him such information as the Secretary of State considers necessary for the performance by the Secretary of State of his duties under this paragraph.

(2) A member of the Corporation who is in any way directly or indirectly interested in a contract made or proposed to be made by the Corporation, or in a contract made or proposed to be made by a subsidiary of the Corporation which is brought up for consideration by the Corporation, shall disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Corporation; and the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Corporation, and the member shall not take any part in any deliberation or decision of the Corporation with respect to that contract.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2), a general notice given at a meeting of the Corporation by a member thereof to the effect that he is a member of a specified company or firm and is to be regarded as interested in any contract which may, after the date of the notice, be made with the company or firm shall be regarded as a sufficient disclosure of his interest in relation to any contract so made or proposed to be so made.

(4) A member of the Corporation need not attend in person at a meeting of the Corporation in order to make a disclosure which he is required to make under this paragraph if he takes reasonable steps to secure that the disclosure is made by a notice which is brought up and read at the meeting.