5 C.F.R. Subpart A—General Provisions
Title 5 - Administrative Personnel
Source: 57 FR 11804, Apr. 7, 1992, unless otherwise noted.
The regulation in this part is issued pursuant to the authority of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended; 26 U.S.C. 1043; the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996; and Executive Order 12674 of April 12, 1989, as modified by Executive Order 12731 of October 17, 1990. [64 FR 47096, Aug. 30, 1999]
Link to an amendment published at 71 FR 28233, May 16, 2006. (a) This regulation supplements and implements title I of the Act and section 201(d) of Executive Order 12674 (as modified by Executive Order 12731) with respect to executive branch employees, by setting forth more specifically the uniform procedures and requirements for financial disclosure and for the certification and use of qualified blind and diversified trusts. Additionally, this regulation implements section 502 of the Reform Act by establishing procedures for executive branch personnel to obtain Certificates of Divestiture, which permit deferred recognition of capital gain in certain instances. (b) The rules in this part govern both the public and confidential (nonpublic) financial disclosure systems, except as otherwise indicated. Subpart I of this part contains special rules unique to the confidential disclosure system. (a) This regulation is intended to provide uniformity for executive branch financial disclosure systems. However, an agency may, subject to the prior written approval of the Office of Government Ethics, issue supplemental regulations implementing this part, if necessary to address special or unique agency circumstances. Such regulations: (1) Shall be consistent with the Act, Executive Orders 12674 and 12731, and this part; and (2) Shall impose no additional reporting requirements on either public or confidential filers, unless specifically authorized by the Office of Government Ethics as supplemental confidential reporting. Note: Supplemental regulations will not be used to satisfy the separate requirement of 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Section 402(d)(1)) that each agency have established written procedures on how to collect, review, evaluate, and, where appropriate, make publicly available, financial disclosure statements filed with it. (b) Requests for approval of supplemental regulations under paragraph (a) of this section shall be submitted in writing to the Office of Government Ethics, and shall set forth the agency's need for any proposed supplemental reporting requirements. See §2634.901 (b) and (c). (c) Agencies should review all of their existing financial disclosure regulations to determine which of those regulations must be modified or revoked in order to conform with the requirements of this part. Any amendatory agency regulations shall be processed in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. (a) Title I of the Act requires that high-level Federal officials disclose publicly their personal financial interests, to ensure confidence in the integrity of the Federal Government by demonstrating that they are able to carry out their duties without compromising the public trust. Title I also authorizes the Office of Government Ethics to establish a confidential (nonpublic) financial disclosure system for less senior executive branch personnel in certain designated positions, to facilitate internal agency conflict-of-interest review. (b) Public and confidential financial disclosure serves to prevent conflicts of interest and to identify potential conflicts, by providing for a systematic review of the financial interests of both current and prospective officers and employees. These reports assist agencies in administering their ethics programs and providing counseling to employees. (c) Financial disclosure reports are not net worth statements. Financial disclosure systems seek only the information that the President, Congress, or OGE as the supervising ethics office for the executive branch has deemed relevant to the administration and application of the criminal conflict of interest laws, other statutes on ethical conduct or financial interests, and Executive orders or regulations on standards of ethical conduct. (d) Nothing in the Act or this part requiring reporting of information or the filing of any report shall be deemed to authorize receipt of income, honoraria, gifts, or reimbursements; holding of assets, liabilities, or positions; or involvement in transactions that are prohibited by law, Executive order or regulation. (e) The provisions of title I of the Act and this part requiring the reporting of information shall supersede any general requirement under any other provision of law or regulation on the reporting of information required for purposes of preventing conflicts of interest or apparent conflicts of interest. However, the provisions of title I and this part shall not supersede the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 7342 (the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act). (f) This regulation is intended to be gender-neutral; therefore, use of the terms he, his, and him include she, hers, and her, and vice versa. For purposes of this part: (a) Act means the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95–521, as amended), as modifed by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (Pub. L. 101–194, as amended). (b) Agency means any executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105 (any executive department, Government corporation, or independent establishment in the executive branch), any military department as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102, and the Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission. It does not include the General Accounting Office. (c) Confidential filer. For the definition of “confidential filer,” see §2634.904. (d) Dependent child means, when used with respect to any reporting individual, any individual who is a son, daughter, stepson, or stepdaughter and who: (1) Is unmarried, under age 21, and living in the household of the reporting individual; or (2) Is a dependent of the reporting individual within the meaning of section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 152. (e) Designated agency ethics official means the primary officer or employee who is designated by the head of an agency to administer the provisions of title I of the Act and this part within an agency, and in his absence the alternate who is designated by the head of the agency. The term also includes a delegate of such an official, unless otherwise indicated. See subpart B of part 2638 of this chapter on the appointment and additional responsibilities of a designated agency ethics official and alternate. (f) Executive branch means any agency as defined in paragraph (b) of this section and any other entity or administrative unit in the executive branch. (g) Filer is used interchangeably with “reporting individual,” and may refer to a “confidential filer” as defined in paragraph (c) of this section, a “public filer” as defined in paragraph (m) of this section, or a nominee or candidate as described in §2634.201. (h) Gift means a payment, advance, forbearance, rendering, or deposit of money, or anything of value, unless consideration of equal or greater value is received by the donor, but does not include: (1) Bequests and other forms of inheritance; (2) Suitable mementos of a function honoring the reporting individual; (3) Food, lodging, transportation, and entertainment provided by a foreign government within a foreign country or by the United States Government, the District of Columbia, or a State or local government or political subdivision thereof; (4) Food and beverages which are not consumed in connection with a gift of overnight lodging; (5) Communications to the offices of a reporting individual, including subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals; (6) Consumable products provided by home-State businesses to the offices of the President or Vice President, if those products are intended for consumption by persons other than the President or Vice President; or (7) Exclusions and exceptions as described at §2634.304(c) and (d). (i) Honorarium means a payment of money or anything of value for an appearance, speech, or article. (j) Income means all income from whatever source derived. It includes but is not limited to the following items: earned income such as compensation for services, fees, commissions, salaries, wages and similar items; gross income derived from business (and net income if the individual elects to include it); gains derived from dealings in property including capital gains; interest; rents; royalties; dividends; annuities; income from the investment portion of life insurance and endowment contracts; pensions; income from discharge of indebtedness; distributive share of partnership income; and income from an interest in an estate or trust. The term includes all income items, regardless of whether they are taxable for Federal income tax purposes, such as interest on municipal bonds. Generally, income means “gross income” as determined in conformity with the Internal Revenue Service principles at 26 CFR 1.61–1 through 1.61–15 and 1.61–21. (k) Personal hospitality of any individual means hospitality extended for a nonbusiness purpose by an individual, not a corporation or organization, at the personal residence of or on property or facilities owned by that individual or his family. (l) Personal residence means any real property used exclusively as a private dwelling by the reporting individual or his spouse, which is not rented out during any portion of the reporting period. The term is not limited to one's domicile; there may be more than one personal residence, including a vacation home. (m) Public filer. For the definition of “public filer,” see §2634.202. (n) Reimbursement means any payment or other thing of value received by the reporting individual (other than gifts, as defined in paragraph (h) of this section) to cover travel-related expenses of such individual, other than those which are: (1) Provided by the United States Government, the District of Columbia, or a State or local government or political subdivision thereof; (2) Required to be reported by the reporting individual under 5 U.S.C. 7342 (the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act); or (3) Required to be reported under section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) (relating to reports of campaign contributions). Note: Payments which are not made to the individual are not reimbursements for purposes of this part. Thus, payments made to the filer's employing agency to cover official travel-related expenses do not fit this definition of reimbursement. For example, payments being accepted by the agency pursuant to statutory authority such as 31 U.S.C. 1353, as implemented by 41 CFR part 304–1, are not considered reimbursements under this part 2634, because they are not payments received by the reporting individual. On the other hand, travel payments made to the employee by an outside entity for private travel are considered reimbursements for purposes of this part. Likewise, travel payments received from certain nonprofit entities under authority of 5 U.S.C. 4111 are considered reimbursements, even though for official travel, since that statute specifies that such payments must be made to the individual directly (with prior approval from the individual's agency). (o) Relative means an individual who is related to the reporting individual, as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great uncle, great aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or who is the grandfather or grandmother of the spouse of the reporting individual, and shall be deemed to include the fiance or fiancee of the reporting individual. (p) Reporting individual is used interchangeably with “filer,” and may refer to a “confidential filer” as defined in §2634.904, a “public filer” as defined in §2634.202, or a nominee or candidate as described in §2634.201. (q) Reviewing official means the designated agency ethics official or his delegate, the Secretary concerned, the head of the agency, or the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. (r) Secretary concerned has the meaning set forth in 10 U.S.C. 101(8) (relating to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and for certain Coast Guard matters, the Secretary of Transportation); and, in addition, means: (1) The Secretary of Commerce, in matters concerning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; (2) The Secretary of Health and Human Services, with respect to matters concerning the Public Health Service; and (3) The Secretary of State with respect to matters concerning the Foreign Service. (s) Special Government employee has the meaning given to that term by the first sentence of 18 U.S.C. 202(a): an officer or employee of an agency who is retained, designated, appointed, or employed to perform temporary duties, with or without compensation, for not to exceed 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days, either on a full-time or intermittent basis. (t) Value means a good faith estimate of the fair market value if the exact value is neither known nor easily obtainable by the reporting individual without undue hardship or expense. In the case of any interest in property, see the alternative valuation options in §2634.301(e). For gifts and reimbursements, see §2634.304(e). [57 FR 11804, Apr. 7, 1992; 57 FR 21854, May 22, 1992; 62 FR 48747, Sept. 17, 1997; 63 FR 69992, Dec. 18, 1998]
Title 5: Administrative Personnel
PART 2634—EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE, QUALIFIED TRUSTS, AND CERTIFICATES OF DIVESTITURE
Subpart A—General Provisions
§ 2634.101 Authority.
§ 2634.102 Purpose and overview.
§ 2634.103 Executive agency supplemental regulations.
§ 2634.104 Policies.
§ 2634.105 Definitions.
