ICANN Contracting and Disbursement Policy
Effective: 25 January 2026
1. Purpose:
The purpose of this ICANN Contracting and Disbursement Policy (Policy) is to outline contracting and disbursement approval authority granted to Officers of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) by the Board of Directors (Board). This Policy also defines the authority granted to ICANN Officers in order to facilitate disbursements in furtherance of approved contractual obligations.
2. Definition of Obligations:
Contractual and disbursement obligations include all oral and/or written commitments on ICANN's behalf including, but not limited to, contracts for goods or services, employment contracts, lease commitments, investments, purchase orders, vendor quotes and invoices and other similar obligations. When such obligations are not quantified in the relevant contractual document, management may establish estimates of expense that can be used to determine the approval authority defined in paragraph 5.
3. Breadth of Review:
All contractual and disbursement obligations must be reviewed for budget impact, risks, legal considerations, optimal procurement practices, ICANN's internal control policies, and consistency with ICANN's strategic and operating plans.
4. Officers:
ICANN Officers include: President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), General Counsel and Secretary, and any other Officer that the Board appoints.
5. Officer and Board Contractual Approval Limits (see chart):
The entry into all contractual or disbursement obligations must be approved by an ICANN Officer, as designated by the Board pursuant to the Bylaws and this Policy.
| Who approves? | Approval Limits |
| Any one ICANN Officer | Up to US$150,000 |
| Any two ICANN Officers | Up to US$300,000 |
| Any three ICANN Officers | Up to US$750,000 |
| Board of Directors | Over US$750,000 |
Only one ICANN Officer needs to approve any disbursement obligation if that disbursement is made pursuant to a previously approved contractual or other obligation regardless of the amount.
Notwithstanding the approval limits set forth in this Policy, no further Board approvals for contractual or disbursement obligations are required if the Board has previously approved a specific budget (outside of the annual budgeting approval process) within which the contractual or disbursement obligation is included. For example only, if the Board approves an overall budget for a particular project that is US$4 million, and two of the contractual obligations within that project are estimated to exceed the approval limit for Officers under this Policy, staff will be authorized to contract for and make any disbursements in furtherance of such contractal obligations or disbursements without further Board approval.
6. Signatory Authority:
If Officer Approval is obtained pursuant to the limits set forth in section 5. above, only one Officer need sign the actual contract. Further, Officers may delegate their signatory authority to another member of the Executive team or to a trusted member of their team.
If an Officer does delegate their signing authority, that delegation must be in writing, must specify what types of contractual obligations or other commitments the Officer's delegate is authorized to sign, must be approved by the General Counsel and Secretary (or designee) and must be communicated in writing to the other Officers. Notwithstanding the above, an Officer does not delegate their approval authority and is still ultimately responsible as an Officer for the contractual or disbursement obligations for which signing authority is delegated.
7. Actual Payment Authorization:
In terms of this Policy, a payment is defined as an authorization from ICANN to a financial institution to release funds from an ICANN account in furtherance of a contracting or disbursement obligation. Such a payment can be in the form of a check, a wire transfer, ACH, a cash withdrawal, or any other authorized means of payment.
The following other financial related matters may be authorized by any one ICANN Officer: (i) authentication of manual funds transfers; (ii) entering into agreements for electronic banking; (iii) opening of safe deposit box; (iv) application for letter of credit; and (v) other administrative actions required to operate existing bank accounts.
Payments made to any ICANN Officer must be approved by another ICANN Officer.
Payments made to any Board member must be approved by the President and CEO, the CFO or the General Counsel and Secretary.
8. Reporting:
The CFO must report on a periodic basis to the Board, through the Board Finance Committee, on all significant disbursement activities, as well as report on financial performance and significant variances from budgets.
9. Compliance with Policy:
The CFO is responsible for complying with and reporting on all financial internal controls, including complying with this Policy.
10. Review of Policy:
The Board Finance Committee is to review this Policy and the appropriate limits periodically, but no less that every five years.
Archived Policy (28 July 2015)
Archived Policy (01 July 2013)
Archived Policy (16 March 2012)
Archived Policy (10 December 2010)
Archived Policy (20 February 2008)
Archived Policy (17 October 2006)