There are three types of conflict of interest: real, potential and apparent.
The conflict of interest is real if the person has a private interest in relation to a particular professional judgement or discernment and is already effectively in a situation in which they are required to provide this judgement. Therefore we could say that real conflicts of interest are real risks.
A conflict of interest is potential if the person has a private interest that could influence them in making a professional judgement in their job or position, but they are not yet in a situation where this judgement has to be made.
UA conflict of interest is only apparent when the person does not have a real or potential conflict of interest, but someone else could reasonably conclude, if only tentatively, that they do. We know that a conflict of interest is apparent when it is resolved simply by providing all the necessary information to show that there is no conflict of interest, real or potential.
