Connected person

Connected person is the charity-law concept behind conflicts of interest and restrictions on benefiting trustees. It captures close family, business partners and entities a trustee controls, so that a benefit routed through a relative is treated as a benefit to the trustee.

This is not the same definition as “related party” in the SORP, and the two are used for different things. Connected person governs whether a transaction is permitted; related party governs what must be disclosed in the accounts and in the annual return. A transaction can be perfectly lawful and still require disclosure.

Keep both in mind when you build your conflicts of interest register, and see related party transactions for the reporting side.