Date: March 18, 2000

Sunset Review: March 18, 2004

SUBJECT: Implementation of the Confidential Financial Disclosure Requirements - Office of Government Ethics Regulations
 

1.    PURPOSE. This Directive provides guidance concerning the distribution, execution, submission, review, and custody of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Form 450, "Confidential Financial Disclosure Report," required to be filed by certain officers and employees of the executive branch by regulations issued by the Office of Government Ethics found at Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 2634.

2.    SCOPE. This Directive applies to all bureaus, offices and organizations in the Department of the Treasury, including the Office of the Inspector General and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

3.    DEFINITIONS.

    a.    Regulations mean those regulations found at 5 CFR Part 2634 requiring the submission of confidential financial disclosure reports by certain employees of the executive branch.

    b.    DAEO means the Designated Agency Ethics Official who is the Assistant General Counsel (General Law and Ethics).

    c.    Senior Counsel for Ethics means the attorney in the Office of the Assistant General Counsel (General Law and Ethics) who is responsible for the management of the day-to-day aspects of the Treasury-wide ethics program and serves as the Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official.

    d.    Report means the OGE Form 450, "Confidential Financial Disclosure Report."

    e.    Filer means any individual required to file a confidential report.

    f.    Special Government employee means an officer or employee of the Department who is retained, designated, appointed or employed to perform temporary duties, with or without compensation, for a period not to exceed 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days, either on a full-time or intermittent basis. The term does not include an advisory committee member who serves only as a representative of an industry or other outside entity, or a member who is already a Federal employee.

    g.    Covered position means a position defined under one or more of the criteria in paragraph 4.b.

    h.    Bureau head, for the purposes of this Directive, means the head of a Treasury bureau, the Inspector General, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and, with respect to the Departmental Offices, the Deputy Assistant Secretary (Human Resources).

4.    REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    a.    Criteria for Determining Who Must File a Confidential Report. The bureau head, or designee(s), shall determine annually, on the basis of the criteria in paragraph 4.b, which employees in the bureau are required to file the OGE Form 450 and shall establish procedures for notifying these employees of the filing requirement and for collecting and reviewing the reports.

    b.    Covered Individuals Required to File. The following individuals are required to file confidential reports.

        (1)    Each employee who is not required to file Standard Form (SF) 278, "Public Financial Disclosure Report" if:

            (a)    the duties and responsibilities of the employee's position require that employee to participate personally and substantially, through decision or the exercise of significant judgment, in the taking of any Government action regarding:

                1 contracting or procurement;

                2 administering or monitoring grants, subsidies, licenses, or other Federally conferred financial or operational benefits;

                3 regulating or auditing any non-Federal entity; or

                4 other activities in which the final decision or action will have a direct and substantial economic effect on the interests of any non-Federal entity; or

            (b)    the duties and responsibilities of the employee's position require the employee to file such a report to avoid involvement in a real or apparent conflict of interest, and to carry out the purposes behind any statute, Executive Order, rule or regulation applicable to or administered by that employee. (NOTE: Employees who might be subject to the reporting requirement under this provision include those whose duties involve the investigation or prosecution of criminal or civil law.)

        (2)    Unless required to file the SF 278, "Public Financial Disclosure Report," all special Government employees (see "Definitions"), including those who serve on advisory committees.

    c.    Exclusions.

        (1)    Any individual or class of individuals, including special Government employees, described in paragraph 4.b. may be excluded from all or a portion of the confidential reporting requirements when the DAEO, or his/her delegate, determines that:

            (a)    the duties of the position make remote the possibility that the incumbent will be involved in a real or apparent conflict of interest;

            (b)    the duties of the position involve such a low level of responsibility that the submission of a confidential report is unnecessary because of :

                1 the substantial degree of supervision or review of the employee's performance of the duties of the position; or

                2 the inconsequential effect of any potential conflict on the integrity of the Government; or

            (c)    the use of an alternative procedure approved in writing by the Office of Government Ethics is adequate to prevent possible conflicts of interest.

    d.    Review of Confidential Filer Status. The DAEO, or his/her delegate, shall review any complaint by an individual that his/her position has been improperly designated by the bureau head as one which requires submission of a confidential report pursuant to this Directive. The DAEO's decision regarding the complaint shall be final.

5.    REPORT FILING DATES.

    a.    New Entrants shall file a report not more than 30 days after assuming a covered position. The report form shall contain a full and complete report of the information required to be reported covering the twelve-month period preceding the date of filing. However, no report shall be required of a new entrant if the individual:

        (1)    has, within 30 days prior to assuming his/her position, left another position covered by the confidential report reporting requirements and has previously satisfied these requirements. A copy of the report last filed by the individual while in that previous position should be made available to the official responsible for the review of the report;

        (2)    has already filed such a report in connection with consideration for appointment to the position. The bureau head may require that the individual update the report if a period of more than six months has expired since it was filed; or

        (3)    is not reasonably expected to perform the duties in a covered position for more than 60 days in the following twelve-month period. An individual serving in a covered position in an acting capacity for more than 60 days in a twelve-month period must file a confidential report within fifteen days after the 60th day of such service.

NOTE: Notwithstanding the filing deadline prescribed for new entrants in this section, bureau heads may, at their discretion, require that prospective entrants file initial confidential reports before serving in the new positions to ensure that there are no insurmountable ethic concerns. Also, a special Government employee who has been appointed to serve on an advisory committee, or who is to be employed as an expert or consultant, shall file a report; and that report shall be reviewed by an appropriate official before any advice is rendered by the employee to the agency, and in no event later than the first meeting or the first performance of duties as an expert or consultant.

    b.    Incumbents shall file reports by October 31 of each year, if they are serving in covered positions. The contents of the report will cover the preceding twelve months ending September 30, or any portion of that period not covered by a previously filed confidential or public financial disclosure report.

    c.    Extensions. The bureau head, or designee(s), may, for good cause shown, grant to any employee, or class of employees, one or more extensions of time to file totaling not more than 90 days for any one individual. Any extensions granted must be documented in writing.

6.    ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS - SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS.

    a.    With written approval from OGE, as described in paragraph 6.b, filers of confidential reports, as well as other employees, may be required to submit additional information on a confidential basis if the bureau head determines that such additional information is needed in connection with the bureau's enforcement of statutes, regulations or specific policies not having governmentwide application.

    b.    Before any additional information may be requested, OGE must specifically authorize the collection of such information. Requests for approval shall be submitted in writing to OGE through the DAEO and shall set forth in detail the bureau's needs for supplemental reporting requirements. Though a bureau need not develop supplemental regulations to codify an OGE approved special reporting requirement, any supplemental disclosure regulation the bureau does choose to issue must be submitted to OGE for approval and published in Title 5 CFR as a supplement to the OGE regulation.

7.    REVIEW OF REPORTS.

    a.    Each bureau head shall make provision for the collection and timely review of confidential reports submitted by employees. The review may be made by the bureau head, or designee(s), including the immediate supervisors of the employees required to file the reports. The system of review shall be designed to identify conflicts of interest or apparent conflicts of interest on the part of the employees required to file. If information from the reports submitted, or from other sources, indicates an actual or potential conflict of interest on the part of a filer, the employee concerned shall be given an opportunity to explain the matter in accordance with procedures outlined in bureau instructions. The issue shall then be resolved by the appropriate bureau official with advice from the bureau ethics counsel. If the bureau official is unable to resolve an actual or potential conflict at the bureau level, the matter shall be referred to the DAEO for resolution.

8. CONFIDENTIALITY OF EMPLOYEE REPORTS.

    a.    Confidential reports are part of a Privacy Act system of records (OGE/GOVT-2) and shall be held in confidence. To ensure this confidentiality, bureaus and offices shall designate which employees are authorized to review and retain the reports. Employees so designated are responsible for maintaining the reports in confidence and shall not allow access to, or allow information to be disclosed from, a report except to carry out the purposes of this Directive, related procedures, the regulations found in 5 CFR 2634, or otherwise as authorized by the Privacy Act.

    b.    Criminal penalties may be imposed on employees who willfully and knowingly disclose information from these reports to unauthorized persons (5 U.S.C 552a).

9.    SUPPLY OF FORMS. Copies of OGE Form 450 may be obtained from the personnel offices, or another designated source, in the respective bureaus. This form is authorized for local reproduction, and it can be printed from the Office of Government Ethics Home Page (www.usoge.gov).

10.    AUTHORITIES. Treasury Order (TO) 107-04, "The General Counsel."

11.    REFERENCES.

    a.    Title H of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. §101,

    b.    5 CFR Part 2634, "Executive Branch Financial Disclosure, Qualified Trusts, and Certificates of Divestiture."

12.    OFFICE OF PRIMARY INTEREST. Office of the General Counsel, Legal Division.