Q.  Our bank is bidding on the depository contract for a local governmental unit.  The RFP requires us to produce a CIQ.  What is that?

 

A.  That is the conflicts statement required by HB 914 from last session.  IBAT circulated a Compliance Bulletin on this last January.  Chapter 176 of the Local Government Code requires persons (including banks) to file a conflicts statement as to each local governmental official of the entity for which you are seeking to enter into a contract.

 

Failure to file is a crime (class C misdemeanor).  More significantly, some banks have claimed that failure to file could be a violation of the bidding process.