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(a) Executive Order 11222 of May 8, 1965, U.S.C. 201 note, states the basic philosophy of conduct for those who carry out the public business:

Where government is based on the consent of the governed, every citizen is entitled to have complete confidence in the integrity of his government. Each individual officer, employee, or adviser of government must help to earn and must honor that trust by his own integrity and conduct in all official actions.

(b) Personnel of the Treasury Department are expected to adhere to the above stated principles and to standards of behavior that will reflect credit on the Government. The Department's position is that of having confidence in its employees and of taking a positive and reasonable approach to the matter of maintaining the high standards of conduct necessary in the transaction of Treasury activities. Those few employees who violate the laws or the rules or regulations on conduct in this part will be disciplined in accordance with the gravity of the offenses committed.

(c) Disciplinary action may be in addition to any penalty prescribed by law. If disciplinary or other remedial action is necessary, it will be taken only after consideration of the explanation of the employee and will be effected in accordance with applicable laws and regula

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In this part:

(a) "Regular employee" or "employee" means an officer or employee of the Treasury Department, but does not include a special Government employee.

(b) "Special Government employee" means an officer or employee of the Treasury Department who is retained,. designated, appointed, or employed to perform, with or without compensation,. for not to exceed 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days, temporary duties either on a full-time or intermittent basis.

(c) "Person" means an individual, & corporation, a company, an association, a firm, a partnership, a society, a joint stock company, or any other organization or institution.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

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The elimination of conflicts of interest in the Federal service is one of the most important objectives in establishing general standards of conduct. A. conflict of interest situation may be defined as one in which a Federal employee's private interest, usually of an economic nature, conflicts or raises a reasonable question of conflict with his public duties and responsibilities. The potential conflict is of concern whether it is real or only apparent. The rules of the Treasury Department concerning conflicts of interest appear in §§ 0.73533, 0.735-35, 0.735-36, and 0.735-38.

§ 0.735-21 Summary of provisions of criminal code.

The following is a brief summary of the provisions of the criminal code, 18 U.S.C., effective January 21, 1963, which define the conflicts of interest which are subject to fine and imprisonment. These provisions have been interpreted by the Attorney General in a memorandum distributed to Heads of Departments and Agencies, dated January 28, 1963, 28 F.R. 985 and published in a note following 18: U.S.C. 201. It should be noted that lesser prohibitions apply to special Govern

ment employees than to regular employees as indicated in Subpart B of this part

(a) Section 203. Section 203 prohibits an employee from receiving, agreeing to receive or asking for, directly or indirectly, any compensation for services, otherwise than as provided by law, rendered by himself or another in relation to any matter in which the United States is a party or has a substantial interest before any Department or agency.

(b) Section 205. Section 205 prohibits an employee from (1) acting as an agent or attorney in prosecuting any claim against the United States or receiving any share of interest in such claim for assistance in its prosecution, or (2) acting as agent or attorney for anyone before any Department or agency in connection with any particular matter in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest. This section does not prohibit a regular Government employee from acting with official approval and with or without compensation as agent or attorney for his parents, spouse, child or any person for whom, or for any estate for which he is serving as guardian or other fiduIciary, with certain exceptions set forth in that section. The provisions of this section and section 203 do not prevent an employee, if not inconsistent with the faithful performance of his duties, from acting without compensation as agent or attorney for any person who is the subject of disciplinary, loyalty or other personnel administration matter in connection with such matter.

(c) Section 207(a). Section 207(a) prohibits a former employee at any time after his employment has ceased, from knowingly acting as agent or attorney for anyone other than the United States in connection with any particular matter involving a specific party or parties in which the United States has a direct and substantial interest and in which he participated personally and substantially as an employee.

(d) Section 207(b). Section 207(b) prohibits any such former Government employee within one year after his employment from appearing personally before any court or Department or agency as agent or attorney for anyone other than the United States in connection

with any particular matter involving a specific party or parties in which the United States is a party or directly and substantially interested and which was under his official responsibility within 1 year prior to the termination of such responsibility.

(e) Section 208. Section 208 prohibits any employee from participating personally and substantially as a Government employee in any particular matter in which to his knowledge he, his spouse, minor child, partner, or organization in which he is an employee or prospective employee, has a financial interest. An employee may be exonerated from the provisions of this section if he makes full disclosure of the financial interest to the official responsible for his appointment and receives in advance a written determination by that official that the interest is not so substantial as to be likely to affect the integrity of his service.

(f) Section 209. Section 209 prohibits any employee from receiving any salary or any contribution to or supplementation of his salary as compensation for his services as an employee from any source other than the Government. This section does not apply to a special Government employee, and does not prevent participation in any bona fide pension, retirement, profit sharing, or other welfare or benefit plan maintained by a former employer. This section also does not prohibit payment or acceptance of certain contributions, awards or expenses in connection with Government employee training programs or attendance at meetings authorized under 5 U.S.C. 41014118.

RULES OF CONDUCT

§ 0.735-30 Proscribed actions.

An employee shall avoid any action, whether or not specifically prohibited by this part, which might result in, or create the appearance of:

(a) Using public office for private gain;

(b) Giving preferential treatment to any person;

(c) Impeding Government efficiency or economy;

(d) Losing complete independence or impartiality;

(e) Making a Government decision outside official channels; or

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Employees have the right to vote as they may choose and to express their opinions on all political subjects and candidates, but are forbidden to take active part in political management or campaigns (5 U.S.C. 7324). Political activity in some local elections is permissible; but before employees engage in such activity, they should familiarize themselves with the statutory provisions and the Civil Service Commission's regulations on this subject (5 U.S.C. 73247327 and 5 CFR Part 733). It is unlawful for employees to solicit, receive or to be concerned with political assessments, subscriptions, or contributions for any political purpose whatever from other employees. (18 U.S.C. 602, 603, 606, 607.) Employees may make voluntary contributions to a regularly constituted political organization for its general expenditures subject to the limitations set forth in 18 U.S.C. 608. Employees may be disqualified for employment for knowingly supporting or advocating the violent overthrow of our constitutional form of government (5 U.S.C. 7532 and E.O. 10450, as amended).

§ 0.735-31 Strikes.

Employees shall not strike against the Government (5 U.S.C. 7311). § 0.735-32

Gifts or gratuities from Gov

ernment employees.

Employees of the Federal Government are prohibited from soliciting contributions from other employees for gifts or presents to persons in superior official positions. Neither may such superiors receive any gift or present offered to them from employees in the Government receiving less salary than themselves (5 U.S.C. 7351). Collections of spontaneous origin may be made for token gifts upon retirement or resignation or for expressing condolences in cases of illness or death. Solicitations for such gifts should be limited to employees in the immediate office of the employee concerned and a few close associates with whom he has worked. In no case should general solicitations be made for a gift, nor should gifts to the recipients be in cash, except that small amounts (e.g.

under $10) remaining after the purchase of a gift may be included with the gift. However, a collection, within the foregoing limitations, may be made for a token gift to express felicitation to an employee and, with the approval of his supervisor, for a cash gift to assist in a catastrophic illness or disaster, provided that these collections are limited to coworkers of approximately equal status to the recipient employee, and to his immediate supervisors.

§ 0.735-33 Gifts or gratuities from out. side sources.

(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, an employee shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan, or any other thing of monetary value from a person who:

(1) Has, or is seeking to obtain, contractual or other business or financial relations with the Treasury Department,

(2) Conducts operations or activities that are regulated by the Treasury Department, or

(3) Has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance or non-performance of his official duty. (b) General exceptions to the rule in paragraph (a) of this section are as follows unless otherwise precluded by heads of bureaus:

(1) Acceptance of gifts, entertainment, and food is acceptable when the circumstances make it clear that obvious family or personal relationships (such as those between the parents, children or spouse of the employee and the employee) rather than the business of the persons concerned are the motivating factors.

(2) Acceptance of food and refreshments of nominal value on infrequent occasions is permitted when such action occurs in the ordinary course of a luncheon or dinner meeting or other meeting or on an inspection tour where an employee may properly be in attendance. This exception also applies when Treasury officials are in attendance at large organized functions which have traditionally been considered appropriate and important ones to attend because of the recognized benefit of such attendance to Treasury operations.

(3) Employees may accept loans from banks or other financial institutions on

customary terms to finance proper and usual activities of employees, such as home mortgage loans, except where prohibited by law.

(4) Employees may accept unsolicited advertising or promotional material, such as pens, pencils, note pads, calendars and other items of nominal intrinsic value.

(c) The receipt of payment or reimbursement, by outside sources, for the expenses of travel and subsistence for activities related to Government employment is permitted only in accordance with § 0.735-39.

§ 0.735-34 Gifts or gratuities from foreign governments.

The Constitution prohibits employees from accepting from foreign governments, except with the consent of the Congress, presents, emoluments, offices, or titles. The Congress has given its consent in 5 U.S.C. 7342 to the acceptance of certain specified gifts and decorations. § 0.735-35 Outside financial interests.

An employee shall not participate on a private basis, directly or indirectly, in any financial transaction as a result of, or primarily relying on, information obtained through his employment with the Treasury Department; or if in the transaction his private interest is, or may reasonably be expected to be, in conflict with his official interests or duties.

§ 0.735-36

Using official designation.

Employees shall not permit their official position, status or designation to be used in a manner that is intended to further, or gives the appearance of furthering, the private business interests of the user.

§ 0.735-37 Purchase of Government property.

Employees are prohibited from, either directly or indirectly, bidding or purchasing at any sale of Government property under the direction or incident to the functions of the bureaus or offices in which they are employed. Government property under the control of the Treasury Department shall not be sold to a Government employee, either directly or indirectly, unless a properly authorized representative of the bureau or office disposing of the property has

determined that the sale is in the best interest of the Government. Before purchasing any Government property from any agency of the Government, either directly or indirectly, employees of the Treasury Department shall make known to the disposing agency that they are such employees and shall be governed by the disposing agency's rules relating to sales to Government employees (Treasury Order 19, Rev. No. 1, May 26, 1955).

§ 0.735-38 Outside employment and other outside activities.

Employees shall not engage in any outside employment or other outside activities, with or without compensation, which (a) interfere with the efficient performance of official duties, (b) might bring discredit on or cause unfavorable and justifiable criticism of the Government or (c) might reasonably result in a conflict of interest, or an apparent conflict of interest, with official duties and responsibilities. Bureau heads will establish appropriate instructions to meet their peculiar needs in regard to outside employment and other outside activities of their employees. These instructions will require employees to obtain written permission from appropriate approving officials. To simplify administration of this rule, bureaus may include in their instructions criteria not inconsistent with the regulations in this part which provide for outside activities which are clearly permissible and would normally not require written permission. § 0.735-39 Engagements to speak, write, or teach.

(a) Employees may teach, lecture, or write providing such action is not prohibited by law, Executive Order 11222, or the regulations in this part. The requirements prescribed in § 0.735-38 also apply to engagements to speak, write and teach. However, an employee shall not, either for or without compensation, engage in teaching, lecturing, or writing, including teaching, lecturing, or writing for the purpose of the special preparation of a person or class of persons for an examination of the Civil Service Commission or Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service, that depends on information obtained as a result of his Government employment, except when that

information has been made available to the general public or will be made available on request, or when an appropriate approving official gives written authorization for use of nonpublic information on the basis that the use is in the public interest. Before an employee delivers a formal speech or releases an article relating to matters connected with Treasury Department business, he must submit it for review to the appropriate approving official.

(b) In any of these activities the appropriate approving official will determine whether the activity may be undertaken, and if so, whether as official duty, or whether in a private capacity. If it is undertaken as official duty, expenses will be borne by the Treasury Department, and the employee may not accept compensation or permit his expenses to be paid for by the person or group under whose auspices the activity is being performed, except as may be authorized under 5 U.S.C. 41.1 and 5 CFR Part 410, Subpart G, relating to acceptance of contributions, awards and other payments from certain tax-exempt organizations incident to training or attendance at meetings. If it is determined that the activity shall be undertaken in a private capacity, the employee may not use duty hours or Government facilities, but he may accept compensation, and he may use his official title provided he makes it clear that he does not represent the Treasury Department. This paragraph does not allow an employee to be reimbursed, or payment to be made on his behalf, for excessive personal living expenses, gifts, entertainment, or other personal benefits. Under 5 CFR 735.203 (c), the Secretary of the Treasury may not receive compensation or anything of monetary value for any consultation, lecture, discussion, writing, or appearance the subject matter of which is devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs or operations of his agency, or which draws substantially on official data or ideas which have not become part of the Lody of public information. Under 46 Comp. Gen. 689 (1967) no reimbursement or donation may be made to the Treasury Department to cover the expenses of travel and subsistence of an employee on official business except when the expenses are incurred in con

nection with the program for the sale of United States public debt obligations (31 U.S.C. 772a).

(c) For purposes of this section, the "appropriate approving official" shall be the bureau head or his deputy or, in the Office of the Secretary, the head of an office or his deputy.

(d) Treasury officials are prohibited from official attendance at segregated meetings. They should not participate in conferences or speak before audiences where any racial group has been segregated or excluded from the meeting, from any of the facilities, or the conferences or from membership in the group. These prohibitions also apply to other Treasury employees, except where the meeting is undertaken primarily for the benefit of the Government and not for the entertainment or benefit of the particular group or audience. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "Treasury officials" refers to all Presidential and Schedule C appointees, all chiefs and deputy chiefs of bureaus and of offices in the Office of the Secretary, all career assistant secretaries and deputy assistant secretaries and the chief officers of a regional, State, or district organization or other field office, except for district law enforcement offices consisting of 10 employees or less. (For a more detailed interpretation of this policy, see Administrative Circular 109 and supplements thereto.)

§ 0.735-40 Soliciting aid or advertising for organizations or associations of Treasury employees.

Employees shall not solicit financial aid from or sell tickets to persons outside the Federal Government for the benefit of any organization or association comprised of Treasury Department employees. No publication of any such organization shall contain any commercial advertising, and the costs of such publications must be wholly paid by the organization or association (Treasury Order 17, May 29, 1937). Employee organizations and associations may, however, accept financial aid for convention purposes from Boards of Trade, Chambers of Commerce, Convention Bureaus and other such organizations serving similar purposes which have followed a regular practice of furnishing financial aid to organizations which hold conventions.

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