UCL FINANCE & BUSINESS AFFAIRS
RELATED PARTY DECLARATION
INFORMATION & GUIDANCE
WHAT IS THE ANNUAL RELATED PARTY DECLARATION EXERCISE?
As part of the annual external audit of UCL’s consolidated accounts, senior staff and UCLB
subsidiary company directors are required to complete an annual return to declare any
transactions or relationships by themselves, by their close family or by any entities in which they
have a controlling interest, with UCL or any of its subsidiaries or related entities (to be referred in
this document as the ‘UCL Group’). Such disclosures are then evaluated to decide whether they
may need to be disclosed within UCL’s consolidated accounts. This is in compliance with
Financial Reporting standard 8 (FRS 8) on Related Party Disclosures.
This accounting standard requires disclosure of material transactions between UCL and its related
parties in order that a reader of the accounts can decide whether the reported financial position of
UCL may have been affected by such relationships. There are two main types of transaction that
might require disclosure:
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Those arising out of a connection with key management, and should include any
partnerships, companies, trusts or other bodies you are board member or director of,
whether it be in an executive or non-executive capacity, with which UCL has a relationship.
This could include, but not exclusively HEFCE, NHS Trusts, Research Councils and any
charities which either give donations or sponsor research at UCL.
Those with joint ventures and associates, including organisations such as UCL Partners,
The Francis Crick Institute (formerly UKCMRI), and all subsidiaries and joint ventures of
UCL Business.
WHO NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE EXERCISE?
Key management for this purpose includes those persons in senior positions who have authority or
responsibility for directing or controlling the major activities and resources of the UCL Group. This
will include the following:
 UCL Council Members
 Members of the Senior Management Team
 Heads of Professional Services divisions
 UCL Business (UCLB) Directors
 UCLB Subsidiary Company Directors
For such individuals the accounting standards also presume that members of their close family and
any bodies in which they have a controlling interest will also be related parties.
Close family
Close family includes your close family members and any members of your household (even if
they are not legal family members) over which you have an influence.
Controlling interest
Bodies in which you have a controlling interest include any partnerships, companies, trusts or other
bodies in which you or your close family (as defined above) together have a controlling interest.
HOW DO I SUBMIT MY RETURN AND WHEN DOES IT NEED TO BE SUBMITTED?
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The data is being collected via a secure Opinio Survey. If you are required to submit
a return you will be sent a personal email, from Phil Harding, with a link to the survey.
This is a private survey so the system will only recognise the email addresses that the
survey link has been sent to.
The deadline for all returns is 31 August.
GUIDANCE ON COMPLETING THE ANNUAL RELATED PARTY DECLARATION (ALL)
Where you, your close family or an entity which you control, have entered into a transaction with
any part of the UCL Group or any of its subsidiaries or related entities at any time between 1
August of the previous year and 31 July of the current year we require the following information:
 The names of the parties concerned (both on your side and the UCL entity involved)
 A description of the relationship between the related party and UCL
 A description of the transaction (its nature)
 The amounts involved in the transaction
 Any other background information useful to understanding the transaction
N.B. Please declare any unsettled amounts or transactions from previous years.
For example:
Names of the party/ies
concerned and description
of the relationship between
the related party and UCL
Description of the
transaction
Amount(s) involved in the
transaction
Any other useful
background information
My brother, Joe Bloggs,
the owner of XYZ Ltd
UCL ordered goods from XYZ
Ltd during the year
£100,000
This had been paid in full by
31 July 2012
is
If you are unsure of any amounts involved then provide details of the transaction and explain any
uncertainty. We may be able to help with quantifying the amounts from our own records. If there
are lots of similar transactions with the same UCL entity then we require an aggregate amount. If
the transactions are dissimilar in nature then we require each transaction to be listed separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does remuneration count as a disclosable transaction?
 Under FRS 8, the transactions we ask you to disclose do not include your contract of
employment or reimbursement of expenses incurred in undertaking your work for the UCL
Group.
Do I need to disclose very small transactions?
 Disclosure may be required in the accounts of any transaction that is material. In this
context materiality is considered both in the context of the UCL Group and the individual, so
even quite small transactions may be relevant. It is better to include a transaction even if
you are in doubt as to whether it is material.
Do I need to disclose family members attending or working for UCL in the year?
 If a member of your close family has worked for UCL in a contractor or freelance capacity,
this should be disclosed. If your child/ren have attended UCL this should be disclosed in
this return.
What happens once the return has been submitted?
 After the return has been reviewed by Finance & Business Affairs, should any
declarations reveal potentially disclosable transactions, a member of the team will
contact the declarer to discuss the text of any such disclosure.
Who should I speak to if I have any queries?
 Nicola Arnold, Director of Financial Control & Analysis, Email:
nicola.arnold@ucl.ac.uk Tel: 020 7679 5612 or x45612.
Updated: May 2015
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