Ethical partnering and conduct
7 minute read
Ethical, sustainable, responsible — whatever you call it, more and more businesses want their deals to do more than make money: they want them to reflect their values. And on a platform where strangers from different countries trust each other with projects, capital and information, ethics is not decoration — it is the infrastructure.
This page covers two things: what ethical partnering means when you choose and run projects on IGT, and the code of conduct every member commits to when they join the platform.
What is ethical partnering?
Ethical partnering means weighing more than the bottom line when you choose a project or a partner: how the money is made, who it affects, and whether you would be comfortable explaining the deal in public.
In the investment world this is often framed as ESG — Environmental, Social and Governance criteria. The same three lenses translate naturally to business partnerships:
Environmental
What does the project do to the planet? Energy, materials, waste, logistics. A renewable-energy partnership and an extraction deal carry very different footprints — know which one you are signing.
Social
How does the deal treat people? Fair terms for workers and suppliers, honest treatment of customers, real benefit for the communities the project touches.
Governance
How is the deal run? Clear contracts, transparent accounting, no corruption or under-the-table arrangements. On IGT, governance is built in: written contracts, audit trails and coordinators.
Choosing projects aligned with your values
Screen before you apply
Read the full project description, its category and its requirements. If a sector conflicts with your values — or with the law of your jurisdiction — the time to walk away is before the join request, not after the contract.
Ask the uncomfortable questions early
Use pre-partnership messages to ask where materials come from, who the end buyers are, how workers are engaged. A serious owner answers; an evasive one is an answer too.
Write your values into the contract
Ethical commitments only bind when they are clauses. Compliance with laws, labour standards or environmental practices can be written into the partnership contract — and then they are enforceable like everything else.
Keep watching after signature
The workspace roadmap, journal and documents give you continuous visibility. If the reality drifts from what was promised, raise it — with your partner, the coordinator, or a dispute if needed.
The IGT code of conduct
IGT works because members trust each other with time, information and money. That trust rests on rules every member commits to:
Respect other members' time
Only publish projects you intend to pursue, and only apply to partnerships you are serious about. Ghosting negotiations, fishing for information with no intent to partner, or keeping counterparties waiting without word wastes what members can least afford. The RWA fee exists precisely to back seriousness with commitment.
Respect other people's projects
A project — its idea, plan, documents and contacts — belongs to its owner. Do not copy it, shop it around, or use what you learned in a negotiation to compete against the person who trusted you with it.
Confidentiality and non-disclosure
What you learn inside a negotiation, a workspace or a direct conversation stays there. Documents shared with you — including each side's confidential documents — are for evaluating and executing the partnership, nothing else. Non-disclosure survives the end of the deal.
Integrity of information
Profiles, company details, documents and financial instruments must be genuine and accurate. Do not alter documents, misrepresent who you are or what you own, or present instruments you cannot verify. One forged paper poisons a whole marketplace.
Professional and respectful treatment
Disagree about terms, never about dignity. No harassment, discrimination, threats or abusive language — in messages, dispute threads or anywhere else on the platform.
Work through the platform
The protections you rely on — contact filtering before a partnership, contracts with audit trails, coordinators, dispute mediation — only work inside the platform. Trying to route around them exposes both sides and breaks the rules.
What happens when the rules are broken
Every profile and every conversation has a Report button, and every partnership workspace can open a dispute. Reports go to the platform administrators, who review each case; disputes are mediated by the assigned coordinator or an administrator.
Consequences scale with the breach: a warning, removal from a partnership, suspension of the account — and, where contracts were breached, the compensation mechanisms the parties agreed (including the RWA seriousness deposit). Serious matters can also have consequences outside the platform, under the law that governs the contract.
Build partnerships you can stand behind
How to get started
Goals, due diligence, contracts and costs — our guide to a first partnership done right.
Explore the marketplace
Browse live projects by category and country, and pick the ones that match your values.
Report a concern
Saw something that does not belong on the platform? Tell us — reports are reviewed by administrators.
Important information: This page describes principles and expected conduct; the binding versions of these obligations live in our Terms of Use and in the contracts the parties sign. IGT does not provide investment, legal or financial advice, and does not certify that any project meets particular ethical or ESG standards — evaluating a project against your values and your laws remains your responsibility.