|
Torchmark
Corporation (the "Company") has a Code of Business Conduct and
Ethics applicable to all directors and employees of the Company and
its subsidiaries. The CEO and all senior financial officers,
including the CFO, principal accounting officer, controller and
persons performing similar functions, are bound by the provisions
set forth therein relating to ethical conduct, conflicts of interest
and compliance with law. In addition to the Code of Business
Conduct and Ethics, the CEO and senior financial officers are
subject to the following additional specific policies:
|
1. |
The CEO and all
senior financial officers are responsible for full, fair,
accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in the
periodic reports required to be filed by the Company with
the SEC and in other public communications made by the
Company. Accordingly, it is the responsibility of the
CEO and each senior financial officer promptly to bring to
the attention of the Audit Committee any material
information of which he or she may become aware that affects
the disclosures made by the Company in its public filings or
otherwise assist the Audit Committee in fulfilling its
responsibilities related to the Company's financial
reporting and disclosure, controls and procedures policy. |
| |
|
|
2. |
The CEO and each
senior financial officer shall promptly bring to the
attention of the Audit Committee any information he or she
may have concerning (a) significant deficiencies in the
design or operation of internal controls which could
adversely affect the Company's ability to record, process,
summarize and report financial data or (b) any fraud,
whether or not material, that involves management or other
employees who have a significant role in the Company's
financial reporting, disclosures or internal controls.
The CEO and the senior financial officers may not take any
action, or direct others to take any action, to fraudulently
induce, coerce, manipulate or mislead the auditor of the
Company's financial statements for the purpose of making the
financial statements misleading. |
| |
|
| 3. |
The CEO and each
senior financial officer shall promptly bring to the
attention of the General Counsel or the CEO, and to the
Audit Committee, any information he or she may have con- cerning any violation of the Company's Code of Business
Conduct and Ethics, including any actual or apparent
conflicts of interest between personal and professional
relationships, involving any management or other employees
who have a significant role in the Company's financial
reporting, disclosures or internal controls. |
| |
|
| 4. |
The CEO and each
senior financial officer shall promptly bring to the
attention of the General Counsel or the CEO and to the Audit
Committee any information he or she may have concerning
evidence of a material violation of the securities or other
laws, rules or regulations applicable to the Company and the
operation of its business, by the Company or any agent
thereof, or of a violation of the Code of Business Conduct
and Ethics or of these additional procedures. |
| |
|
| 5. |
The Board of
Directors shall determine, or designate appropriate persons
to determine, appropriate actions to be taken in the event
of violations of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics or
of these additional procedures by the CEO and the Company's
senior financial officers. Such actions shall be
reasonably designed to deter wrongdoing and to promote
accountability for adherence to the Code of Business Conduct
and Ethics and to these additional procedures, and shall
include written notices to the individual involved that the
Board has determined that there has been a violation,
censure by the Board, demotion or re-assignment of the
individual involved, suspension with or without pay or
benefits (as determined by the Board) and termination of the
individual's employment. In determining what action is
appropriate in a particular case, the Board of Directors or
such designee shall take into account all relevant
information, including the nature and severity of the
violation, whether the violation was a single occurrence or
repeated occurrences, whether the violation appears to have
been intentional or inadvertent, whether the individual in
question has been advised prior to the violation as to the
proper course of action and whether or not the individual in
question has committed other violations in the past.
Effective November 15, 2003 |
|