We recently announced elections for Supervisors of the Dash Investment Foundation and gave some details about the process.

The elections were scheduled to start on May 30th. We had enough confirmed candidates to cover the available positions, but many others have reached out to us with questions regarding the role. These questions delayed their decision regarding putting forth their candidacy for the Supervisor role at DIF. To thoroughly address these questions and to further clarify the role, we have decided to extend the deadline to submit candidacies to June 7th, 2019. The ultimate objective in delaying the election is to ensure the network has the best selection of qualified candidates from which to choose, and we feel that delaying the election a short time to onboard additional candidates is in the network’s best interest.

Certain recurring questions we have addressed in the information found below. We hope this will clarify the role and will prompt potential candidates to step forth and announce their candidacy.

New timeline

Nominations. Please write to team@dashwatch.org before end of day UTC June 7th.

Voting will take place between June 10th and July 2nd.

Results publication will occur no later than July 5th.

Supervisor role

The definition of the supervisor role is quite open. This type of Cayman Islands foundations is relatively new. The 2017 Foundation Companies Law lists many potential responsibilities of the different roles in the foundation, leaving the details to the constitution of the foundation company.

In the case of the Dash Investment Foundation, the directors, who are already appointed, are running the day to day business of the foundation. However, there are a few reserved matters that can only be decided at the general meetings, where supervisors vote:

Entry into any long-term service contract with a director or any other service provider which is or may be for a guaranteed term of more than two years.

Transfers or acquisitions of non-cash assets with a value greater than US$100,000, which means that any investment of more than that, needs to be approved by the supervisors. The threshold can be changed by the supervisors as the Foundation grows.

Changes of domicile or jurisdiction of incorporation.

Decisions on whether to incur debts or liabilities except in the ordinary course of business.

Supervisors may request access to files, records, accounts or books for the Foundation.

Supervisors can be removed by all the other supervisors in agreement, or by a number of common sense circumstances (death, bankruptcy, continued absence, resignation, unauthorized conflict of interest).

In general, supervisors act in a very similar way to the board of a company.

Q&A

What if I want to offer an investment to the Foundation?

Some people have asked about the compatibility of being a supervisor and seeking a Foundation investment.

While that could pose a conflict of interest, those can be authorized and that supervisor would not take part in the voting process affected by that conflict. Or she could even renounce if the conflict is not manageable.

For that reason, we would encourage anyone interested in being a supervisor to put forth their candidacy. Ultimately, the conflict of interest issue can easily be dealt with and we wouldn’t want a potential conflict (in many cases may not end up materializing at all) prevent a capable individual from serving the network.

How long is the term?

Supervisors will serve for one year. They are eligible for reelection each year and there are not currently restrictions on the number of successive years supervisors may serve.

What is the time commitment?

It is not a full-time job. Meetings will be held over a dial-in through phone or internet. There is an annual meeting and supervisors or directors can call for as many additional meetings as are needed. Supervisors need to prepare for those meetings and be up to date with the materials that the directors send them, but the time commitment is flexible and will depend a lot on how much supervisors want to involve themselves as a group and individually.

Is this a paid position?

Not currently. It may be a paid position in the future if supervisors decide compensation is warranted, beneficial to the network (e.g., attracts better supervisors), and can secure funding.

Is financial knowledge a requirement?

The role doesn’t require deep financial knowledge, but some finance or business background would be beneficial. What is most important is the ability to represent the best interests of the network.