January 11, 1995
                                         DO-95-002

MEMORANDUM

TO:       Designated Agency Ethics Officials

FROM:     Stephen D. Potts
          Director

SUBJECT:  Revised Public Financial Disclosure Form (SF 278)


     Attached is a specimen photocopy of the newly revised SF 278,
the public financial disclosure report form for executive branch
personnel.  As printed, this edition of the form bears rose shading
and has a revision date of 6/94.  The Federal Supply Service has
begun to stock this new edition, but existing supplies of the gold-
shaded version (revised 1/91) will continue to be distributed and
should be used until depleted.  The SF 278 stock number remains
unchanged (NSN 7540-01-070-8444).  

     This revised form maintains the same basic organization and
content as earlier versions.  However, it contains the following
changes:

     1)  Gift and reimbursement threshold disclosure values and
exclusion levels have been adjusted, as required by section 314(a)
of Public Law 102-90.  These new values were the subject of an
earlier DAEOgram, dated December 19, 1991; subsequently the
effective date for these changes was postponed by statute to
January 1, 1993.

     2)  The "not applicable" box for Schedule B and Part II of
Schedule D has been removed.  In its place, a reminder has been
added on those Schedules to note that they do not apply to certain
filers.  Elimination of the "not applicable" box will reduce the
burden on those filers for whom the sections do not apply.  It 
should also help avoid confusion for those filers who are required
to complete the sections but who have no interests to report; in
the past, those filers have sometimes inadvertently marked the "not
applicable" box when they should have indicated "none."

     3)  The term "candidate," as used to describe a statutory
filing status, has been clarified to reflect its application to
Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates only.  In the past,
some Presidential nominees to executive branch positions had
mistakenly understood that they were candidates and that they
could, therefore, omit Part II of Schedule D.

     4)  A continuation page for Schedule A has been added, for 
convenience of those filers who have more assets than the six entry
lines of the basic Schedule A page will accommodate.  The
continuation page contains nine entry lines, and it may be
photocopied for additional continuation pages.

     5)  The initials S, DC, and J (spouse, dependent child, and
joint) have been removed from the first column for entries on
Schedules A, B and C (Part I), because this had implied that filers
were required to designate assets and interests which they did not
hold directly.  The instructions continue to state that these
designations are permitted but not required by the statute or
regulation.

     6)  On one or more of the Schedules, the examples have been
improved, specific directions have been modified to better conform
with statutory and regulatory requirements, and several minor
stylistic and format changes were made.

     7)  On the cover sheet, the reporting status line has been
altered to clarify that the calendar year box applies only to
incumbent filers, and language in the certification block has been
modified to conform with the statute.

     8)  The introductory instruction pages to the SF 278 have been
revised to improve understanding and to reflect changes in the form
itself.  Additionally, the Privacy Act statement has been updated,
references to GS-16 have been eliminated and corrected to reflect
personnel law amendments, and the discussion on reporting
reimbursements for official travel has been clarified.

     We cannot predict when you will begin to receive this rose-
shaded revised SF 278.  That will depend upon stock levels of the
earlier edition at various distribution points in the Federal
Supply Service system.  As indicated above, existing supplies of
the gold-shaded version should continue to be used until they have
been exhausted.

(TEBBS Note: The attachment is not contained on the bulletin borad. 
It contains graphical images which can not be representated in a text   
format.  Also, it is a document prepared by a commercial printer and we
do not have a data file as yet.)