The Illawarra Business Chamber has introduced a code of conduct in the wake of the damaging corruption scandal which forced the resignation of three of its members.Yesterday, chief executive Mark Grimson said the Illawarra Business Chamber (IBC) board under the chairmanship of Les Dion, took its responsibility of overseeing member behaviour very seriously."As the business leader in the region we wanted to get on the front foot and the code of conduct is a way of reinforcing to our members the behaviour and practices that we expect them to uphold," he said. Mr Grimson confirmed that disgraced developers Frank Vellar and Glen Tabak and businessman and former Wollongong councillor Val Zanotto had resigned from the chamber after their membership was suspended by the board.The IBC board wrote to each of them soon after the public inquiry held by Independent Commission Against Corruption into Wollongong City Council to notify them of the suspension.Mr Grimson said they had been given the opportunity to make representations to the board but all three declined and tendered their resignations.On October 8, ICAC Commissioner Jerrold Cripps, QC, handed down his final report in which Mr Vellar, Mr Tabak and Mr Zanotto were among 10 people he found to have engaged in corrupt conduct and recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions consider criminal charges.Mr Vellar faces 19 possible charges, Mr Tabak five possible charges and Mr Zanotto three possible charges.Mr Tabak has vehemently rejected the ICAC's findings of corrupt conduct, while Mr Zanotto and Mr Vellar have yet to make a public response."Obviously their conduct and the ICAC public inquiry were a significant factor in the board's decision to develop a code of conduct, but it has not been entirely driven from that," Mr Grimson said.He conceded it would be difficult for the board to enforce the code but said it was "fundamental to the objectives of the organisation"."It's not meant to be a document through which the IBC are acting as police officers, however any breach of the code will be viewed very seriously by the board," Mr Grimson said.The IBC is the largest employer organisation in the Illawarra with 655 members who employ more than 42,000 people.