An open letter to everyone who spends other people's money in yachting

We work at the very top of the service world. Our clients are among the wealthiest people on the planet, and they hand extraordinary trust to the captains, crews, managers and brokers who run their yachts and spend their money. That trust is the foundation of everything we do.

It should trouble every one of us that behind the polished teak and the pressed whites, a culture of hidden commissions, kickbacks and quiet backhanders has been allowed to take root.

Ask anyone in yachting. Almost nobody can honestly say they have never heard a story of it. That does not mean everyone is doing it. Most people in this industry are honest and take real pride in their work. But nearly everyone has a story, and nearly everyone has been exposed to it. That tells you how deep the problem runs.

How we got here

Years ago it was routine for captains to take a percentage on fuel, provisions, yard work and almost everything else that passed through their hands. For a long time that was simply how things were done. Management companies grew up in large part to end it: to bring compliance, oversight and scrutiny to the spend, and to protect the owner.

Today almost every management company and brokerage has an anti-bribery policy. A policy is only as good as the practice behind it. Ask to see how it is trained, audited and enforced. A policy that nobody applies is not protection. It is decoration.

Whose money is it?

On a charter, the guest pays an Advance Provisioning Allowance, the APA, on top of the charter fee. It is the guest's money, held to be spent for them. Crew and, in many cases, brokers spend it on their behalf. The person whose money it is usually cannot see the invoices, cannot compare prices and cannot tell whether an order went to the best supplier or to the one paying the biggest incentive.

That is a position of profound trust. The rule that follows is simple: every benefit that comes from spending that money belongs to the person it came from.

Commission is not the problem. Secrecy is.

We are not against commission. A charter or sales broker's commission, written into the contract and known to the client, is ordinary and lawful. The problem is the payment the client does not know about, paid by a supplier to the person trusted to choose the supplier.

It does not matter whether the price went up. It does not matter that "everyone does it". It does not matter that the client is wealthy. What matters is whether the person whose money was spent was told, and agreed. Read Commission or kickback? for the full test.

The money goes round in a circle

In plain terms, it can work like this. A guest pays an APA. The broker or crew spends it with a supplier who offered something in return. The supplier pays a share back to the person who placed the order. The guest never knows. Nothing in that circle needs the guest to be overcharged to be wrong. It is a payment out of a client's own funds to the person trusted to protect them.

Offering such a payment, and asking for one, is treated as a crime in a large number of countries, including France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, whether or not the order is placed and whether or not the client loses a cent. The details differ by country and are explained, with their limits, on the law pages.

Why this matters to everyone

Every undisclosed margin is money that is not available for wages, for better service or for the next charter. When owners and guests feel they are being charged more because it is "yachting", they spend less and charter less, and the whole industry shrinks. We are all, quite literally, biting the hand that feeds us. Read Hidden margins cost everyone.

What we ask

• Crew and captains: take nothing personally, pass on every benefit, keep records, and decline what you are offered.
• Management companies and brokerages: make your policy real. Train, audit and enforce it, and give people a safe place to raise concerns.
• Suppliers: stop paying personal incentives and compete on price and quality. Make the Vendor Promise.
• Owners and guests: ask who else is being paid on your charter. Use our letter template.
• Associations and shows: act on evidence, and say publicly what you will and will not allow.

If you have a concern

You do not have to know the law, or who to trust, or what to do next. You can raise a concern, send evidence or ask a question privately. It is encrypted before it leaves your device. We will reply, help you understand your options, and, only with your permission, introduce you to a qualified legal team.

We are not lawyers and we do not name and shame. We are asking for help, and we will close this site the day the industry shows it can police itself.