The Charity Commission has published updated guidance on how charity trustees should identify and manage conflicts of interest after seeing an increase in cases.
Published today, the commission issued advice to help trustees manage financial conflicts where a trustee or someone connected to them stands to gain monetarily or otherwise.
The regulator’s guidance also covers conflicts of loyalty or obligations to another person or organisation that could influence a trustee's judgment.
Last month, a married couple were disqualified by the regulator after an inquiry found several failings at two charities they managed.
Weeks prior to that, the commission opened a statutory inquiry into a Surrey-based charity that loaned £900,000 to a trustee's son.
This comes after the commission published its first-ever charity sector risk assessment in 2025, which found that compliance cases involving the alleged abuse of charitable status rose by 23% in a year.
The commission said figures to be published later this year suggest that the upward trend may be continuing.
Its analysis has found that most unmanaged conflicts of interest arise from a lack of awareness, rather than deliberate wrongdoing.
“Trustees […] are often unable to identify a conflict when it arises and therefore fail to take steps to protect their charity’s assets or reputation,” the commission stated.
It added that conflicts involving trustees and their private interests represented an “ongoing risk” to public trust in the charity sector.
Public trust risk
Rachel Wenstone, assistant director of policy at the regulator, said that trustees who fail to manage a conflict-of-interest risk becoming part of the wider problem of “shattering” public trust.
She said: “Our refreshed guidance will enable trustees to identify and manage conflicts of interest when these, to best protect themselves and their charities.
“This matters – the trust that the public place in charity can be shattered by the perception that some amongst those entrusted to protect a charity may be abusing it for personal gain.”
The regulator added that decisions made without proper management of a conflict of interest may be legally invalid.
This could result in the charity losing money and trustees being deemed jointly liable to cover the cost.
It may also be considered as evidence of misconduct or mismanagement.
The commission also updated its guidance on social media and raising concerns this week to reflect the introduction of the Online Safety Act 2023.
