[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR2635.606]

[Page 579]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER XVI--OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
 
PART 2635_STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE EXECUTIVE 
BRANCH--Table of Contents
 
                   Subpart F_Seeking Other Employment
 
Sec. 2635.606  Disqualification based on an arrangement concerning 
prospective employment or otherwise after negotiations.

    (a) Employment or arrangement concerning employment. An employee 
shall be disqualified from participating personally and substantially in 
a particular matter that has a direct and predictable effect on the 
financial interests of the person by whom he is employed or with whom he 
has an arrangement concerning future employment, unless authorized to 
participate in the matter by a written waiver issued under the authority 
of 18 U.S.C. 208 (b)(1) or (b)(3), or by a regulatory exemption under 
the authority of 18 U.S.C. 208 (b)(2). These waivers and exemptions are 
described in Sec. 2635.402(d). See also subparts B and C of part 2640 
of this chapter.

    Example 1: A military officer has accepted a job with a defense 
contractor to begin in six months, after his retirement from military 
service. During the period that he remains with the Government, the 
officer may not participate in the administration of a contract with 
that particular defense contractor unless he has received a written 
waiver under the authority of 18 U.S.C. 208(b)(1).
    Example 2: An accountant has just been offered a job with the 
Comptroller of the Currency which involves a two-year limited 
appointment. Her private employer, a large corporation, believes the job 
will enhance her skills and has agreed to give her a two-year unpaid 
leave of absence at the end of which she has agreed to return to work 
for the corporation. During the two-year period she is to be a COC 
employee, the accountant will have an arrangement concerning future 
employment with the corporation that will require her disqualification 
from participation in any particular matter that will have a direct and 
predictable effect on the corporation's financial interests.

    (b) Offer rejected or not made. The agency designee for the purpose 
of Sec. 2635.502(c) may, in an appropriate case, determine that an 
employee not covered by the preceding paragraph who has sought but is no 
longer seeking employment nevertheless shall be subject to a period of 
disqualification upon the conclusion of employment negotiations. Any 
such determination shall be based on a consideration of all the relevant 
factors, including those listed in Sec. 2635.502(d), and a 
determination that the concern that a reasonable person may question the 
integrity of the agency's decisionmaking process outweighs the 
Government's interest in the employee's participation in the particular 
matter.

    Example 1: An employee of the Securities and Exchange Commission was 
relieved of responsibility for an investigation of a broker-dealer while 
seeking employment with the law firm representing the broker-dealer in 
that matter. The firm did not offer her the partnership position she 
sought. Even though she is no longer seeking employment with the firm, 
she may continue to be disqualified from participating in the 
investigation based on a determination by the agency designee that the 
concern that a reasonable person might question whether, in view of the 
history of the employment negotiations, she could act impartially in the 
matter outweighs the Government's interest in her participation.

[57 FR 35042, Aug. 7, 1992, as amended at 62 FR 48748, Sept. 17, 1997; 
64 FR 13064, Mar. 17, 1999]