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5 C.F.R. § 2634.301   Interests in property.

Title 5 - Administrative Personnel

Title 5: Administrative Personnel
PART 2634—EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE, QUALIFIED TRUSTS, AND CERTIFICATES OF DIVESTITURE
Subpart C—Contents of Reports

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§ 2634.301   Interests in property.

Link to an amendment published at 71 FR 28233, May 16, 2006.

(a) In general. Each financial disclosure report filed pursuant to this part, whether public or confidential, shall include a brief description of any interest in property held by the filer at the end of the reporting period in a trade or business, or for investment or the production of income, having a fair market value in excess of $1,000. In the case of public financial disclosure reports, the report shall designate the category of value of the property in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section. Each item of real and personal property shall be disclosed separately. Note that for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA's), brokerage accounts, trusts, mutual or pension funds and other entities with portfolio holdings, each underlying asset must be separately disclosed, unless the entity qualifies for special treatment under §2634.310 of this subpart.

(b) Types of property reportable. Subject to the exceptions in paragraph (c) of this section, examples of the types of property required to be reported include, but are not limited to:

(1) Real estate;

(2) Stocks, bonds, securities, and futures contracts;

(3) Livestock owned for commercial purposes;

(4) Commercial crops, either standing or held in storage;

(5) Antiques or art held for resale or investment;

(6) Beneficial interests in trusts and estates;

(7) Deposits in banks or other financial institutions;

(8) Pensions and annuities;

(9) Mutual funds;

(10) Accounts or other funds receivable; and

(11) Capital accounts or other asset ownership in a business.

(c) Exceptions. The following property interests are exempt from the reporting requirements under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section:

(1) Any personal liability owed to the filer, spouse, or dependent child by a spouse, or by a parent, brother, sister, or child of the filer, spouse, or dependent child;

(2) Personal savings accounts (defined as any form of deposit in a bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or similar financial institution) in a single financial institution or holdings in a single money market mutual fund, aggregating $5,000 or less in that institution or fund;

(3) A personal residence of the filer or spouse, as defined in §2634.105(l); and

(4) Financial interests in any retirement system of the United States (including the Thrift Savings Plan) or under the Social Security Act.

(d) Valuation categories. The valuation categories specified for property items on public financial disclosure reports are as follows:

(1) Not more than $15,000;

(2) Greater than $15,000 but not more than $50,000;

(3) Greater than $50,000 but not more than $100,000;

(4) Greater than $100,000 but not more than $250,000;

(5) Greater than $250,000 but not more than $500,000;

(6) Greater than $500,000 but not more than $1,000,000; and

(7) Greater than $1,000,000;

(8) Provided that, with respect to items held by the filer alone or held jointly by the filer with the filer's spouse and/or dependent children, the following additional categories over $1,000,000 shall apply:

(i) Greater than $1,000,000 but not more than $5,000,000;

(ii) Greater than $5,000,000 but not more than $25,000,000;

(iii) Greater than $25,000,000 but not more than $50,000,000; and

(iv) Greater than $50,000,000.

(e) Valuation of interests in property. A good faith estimate of the fair market value of interests in property may be made in any case in which the exact value cannot be obtained without undue hardship or expense to the filer. Fair market value may also be determined by:

(1) The purchase price (in which case, the filer should indicate date of purchase);

(2) Recent appraisal;

(3) The assessed value for tax purposes (adjusted to reflect the market value of the property used for the assessment if the assessed value is computed at less than 100 percent of that market value);

(4) The year-end book value of nonpublicly traded stock, the year-end exchange value of corporate stock, or the face value of corporate bonds or comparable securities;

(5) The net worth of a business partnership;

(6) The equity value of an individually owned business; or

(7) Any other recognized indication of value (such as the last sale on a stock exchange).

Example 1.  An official has a $4,000 savings account in Bank A. His spouse has a $2,500 certificate of deposit issued by Bank B and his dependent daughter has a $200 savings account in Bank C. The official does not have to disclose the deposits, as the total value of the deposits in any one bank does not exceed $5,000. Note, however, that the source, and if he is a public filer the amount, of interest income from any bank is required to be reported under §2634.302(b) of this subpart if it exceeds the reporting threshold for income. See §2634.309 of this subpart for disclosure coverage of spouses and dependent children.

Example 2.  Public filer R has a collection of post-impressionist paintings which have been carefully selected over the years. From time to time, as new paintings have been acquired to add to the collection, R has made sales of both less desirable works from his collection and paintings of various schools which he acquired through inheritance. Under these circumstances, R must report the value of all the paintings he retains as interests in property pursuant to this section, as well as income from the sales of paintings pursuant to §2634.302(b) of this subpart. Recurrent sales from a collection indicate that the collection is being held for investment or the production of income.

Example 3.  A reporting individual has investments which her broker holds as an IRA and invests in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Each such asset having a fair market value in excess of $1,000 at the close of the reporting period must be separately listed, and also the value must be shown if she is a public filer. See §2634.311(c) of this subpart for attachment of brokerage statements in lieu of listing, in the event of extensive holdings. Note that for a mutual fund held in this IRA investment account, its underlying assets must also be separately detailed, unless it qualifies as an excepted investment fund, pursuant to §2634.310 of this subpart.

[57 FR 11808, Apr. 7, 1992; 57 FR 21854, May 22, 1992, as amended at 65 FR 69656, Nov. 20, 2000]

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