This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

65873 

Vol. 79, No. 215 

Thursday, November 6, 2014 

1Title I section 1103 of RRA ’98 amended the 

Inspector General Act of 1978 at 5 U.S.C. App. 3 

§ 2. 

2 31 U.S.C. 310. 

3 6 U.S.C. 203, 381, and 531. 

4 12 U.S.C. 5231. 

5Title III section 313 of Public Law 111–203 

(2010), 12 U.S.C. 5413. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

5 CFR Part 3101 

Supplemental Standards of Ethical 

Conduct for Employees of the 

Department of the Treasury 

AGENCY: Department of the Treasury. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Treasury (the ‘‘Department’’ or 

‘‘Treasury’’), with the concurrence of 

the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), 

is amending the Supplemental 

Standards of Ethical Conduct for 

Employees of the Department of the 

Treasury (the ‘‘Supplemental 

Standards’’). The Supplemental 

Standards apply only to Department 

personnel and augment the Standards of 

Ethical Conduct for Employees of the 

Executive Branch (‘‘OGE Standards’’). 

This final rule amends the 

Supplemental Standards to account for 

current Department structure resulting 

from organizational changes that 

established new offices or bureaus 

within Treasury and transferred certain 

functions and/or bureaus from the 

Department. This final rule also amends 

the Supplemental Standards applicable 

to employees of the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), 

which generally prohibit OCC 

employees from investing in or 

borrowing from OCC supervised 

institutions. 

DATES: Effective: November 6, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elizabeth Horton, Deputy Assistant 

General Counsel for Ethics, Office of the 

General Counsel, Department of the 

Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Room 2221, Washington DC 

20220; (202) 622–0450. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On August 7, 1992, OGE published 

the OGE Standards. See 57 FR 35006– 

35067, as corrected at 57 FR 48557, 57 

FR 52483, and 60 FR 51167, with 

additional grace period extensions for 

certain existing provisions at 59 FR 

4779–4780, 60 FR 6390–6391, and 60 

FR 66857–66858. The OGE Standards, 

codified at 5 CFR part 2635, effective 

February 3, 1993, established uniform 

standards of ethical conduct that apply 

to all executive branch personnel. 

Section 2635.105 of the OGE Standards 

authorizes an agency, with the 

concurrence of OGE, to adopt agencyspecific supplemental regulations that 

are necessary to properly implement its 

ethics program. In 1995, the 

Department, with OGE’s concurrence, 

established the Supplemental 

Standards. See 60 FR 22249–22255 

(May 5, 1995), as codified at 5 CFR part 

3101. Employees of the Department are 

subject to standards of ethical conduct 

promulgated by OGE and Treasury. The 

Supplemental Standards are necessary 

for successful implementation of the 

Department’s ethics program in light of 

Treasury’s unique programs and 

operations. 

Treasury is now amending the 

Supplemental Standards to account for 

current Department structure resulting 

from organizational changes that 

established new offices or bureaus 

within Treasury and transferred certain 

functions and/or bureaus from the 

Department. This rule also amends the 

Supplemental Standards applicable to 

employees of the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), 

which generally prohibit OCC 

employees from investing in or 

borrowing from OCC supervised 

institutions. 

II. Amendments Related to Treasury 

Organizational Changes 

This final rule amends the 

Supplemental Standards to reflect 

current organizational structure 

mandated by various statutes that 

resulted in the establishment of new 

offices or bureaus within Treasury and 

the transfer of certain functions and/or 

bureaus from the Department. As 

currently organized and relevant to the 

Supplemental Standards, the Bureaus of 

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), 

Federal Law Enforcement Training 

Center (FLETC), the United States 

Customs Service (USCS), and the United 

States Secret Service (USSS) are no 

longer bureaus of the Department. New 

bureaus and/or offices include the 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau (TTB), the Office of the Treasury 

Inspector General for Tax 

Administration (TIGTA), and the Office 

of the Special Inspector General for the 

Troubled Asset Relief Program 

(SIGTARP). Additionally, the Office of 

Thrift Supervision (OTS) was abolished 

by statute and certain functions of OTS 

have been integrated into OCC. The 

Department also consolidated the 

Bureau of Public Debt (BPD) and the 

Financial Management Service (FMS) 

into a new Bureau of the Fiscal Service 

(BFS). 

These amendments to the 

Supplemental Standards are necessary 

in light of Title I of the Internal Revenue 

Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 

1998 (‘‘RRA ’98’’),1 Title III, section 

361(a)(2), of the USA PATRIOT Act,2

Titles IV, VIII and XI of the Homeland 

Security Act of 2002 (Homeland 

Security Act),3 Title I of the Emergency 

Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 

(EESA),4 and Title III of the Dodd-Frank 

Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).5

Office of Treasury Inspector General 

for Tax Administration (TIGTA): 

Section 1103 of RRA ’98 established 

TIGTA. Consistent with its authority, 

TIGTA exercises the duties and 

responsibilities of an Inspector General 

organization on all matters relating to 

the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury’s largest bureau. Generally, 

TIGTA provides independent oversight 

of IRS activities. While TIGTA is 

organizationally placed within 

Treasury, it exercises distinct and 

separate functions from other Treasury 

offices and bureaus. Section 2635.203(a) 

of the OGE Standards authorizes an 

executive department, by supplemental 

regulation, to designate as a separate 

agency a component of the department 

that exercises a distinct and separate 

function. Pursuant to this authority, the 

Department amends the Supplemental 


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6 Dodd-Frank Act section 312(b)(2)(B)(i), 12 

U.S.C. 5412(b)(2)(B)(i). Title III provides for the 

transfer of all supervisory functions of the OTS 

relating to state savings associations to the Federal 

Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and all 

functions relating to the supervision of any savings 

and loan holding company and non-depository 

institution subsidiaries of such holding companies, 

as well as rulemaking authority for savings and loan 

holding companies, to the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System (Board). 

7 Dodd-Frank Act section 322(a), 12 U.S.C. 

5432(a). Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act provided for 

the transfer of certain authorities regarding a 

number of consumer protection laws from the 

Federal banking agencies to the Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau. 

Standards to designate TIGTA as a 

separate agency in § 3101.102 for 

purposes of the OGE regulations 

contained in subpart B of 5 CFR part 

2635 governing gifts from outside 

sources (the ‘‘OGE Gift Rules’’) and 5 

CFR 2635.807 governing teaching, 

speaking or writing (the ‘‘OGE 

Teaching-Speaking-Writing Rules’’). 

This rule further amends § 3101.106 

of the Supplemental Standards, 

Additional rules for Internal Revenue 

Service employees, to include TIGTA 

staff in the restrictions against making 

certain attorney or accountant 

recommendations in connection with 

IRS official business, from engaging in 

particular outside employment and 

business activities related to Federal, 

state or local government tax matters, 

and from engaging in accounting, 

interpretation of financial records or the 

record-making phase of accounting 

related to tax matters. TIGTA personnel 

provide oversight of IRS activities, and 

the prohibitions in this section are 

consistent with TIGTA’s oversight role 

of IRS and its longstanding internal 

policy. 

The Financial Crimes Enforcement 

Network (FinCEN): The USA PATRIOT 

Act established FinCEN as a bureau of 

the Treasury in 2001. FinCEN is 

dedicated to enhancing the integrity of 

the financial systems by facilitating the 

detection and deterrence of financial 

crime through a legislative framework 

commonly known as the Bank Secrecy 

Act. FinCEN exercises distinct and 

separate functions from other Treasury 

bureaus and offices. Pursuant to 5 CFR 

2635.203(a), this final rule amends 

§ 3101.102 of the Supplemental 

Standards to designate FinCEN as a 

separate agency for purposes of the OGE 

Gift Rules and the OGE TeachingSpeaking-Writing Rules. 

Transfer of Certain Bureaus and/or 

Functions out of Treasury: The 

Homeland Security Act established a 

new agency, the Department of 

Homeland Security, which integrated all 

or a part of 22 different Federal 

departments and agencies. Relevant to 

Treasury, Titles IV and VIII of the Act 

mandated, with some exceptions, the 

transfer of all Department functions, 

personnel, assets and liabilities of the 

U.S. Customs Service (USCS), the 

Federal Law Enforcement Training 

Center (FLETC), and the U.S. Secret 

Service (USSS) to the Secretary of 

Homeland Security. Effective in 2003, 

these Bureaus are no longer a part of 

Treasury. Accordingly, § 3101.102 is 

amended to remove USCS, FLETC, and 

USSS as designated separate agencies. 

Moreover, §§ 3101.110 and 3101.111, 

which provide additional rules for 

USCS and USSS employees, 

respectively, are hereby removed from 

part 3101. 

Title XI of the Homeland Security Act 

of 2002 also created the Bureau of 

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 

Explosives within the Department of 

Justice, comprised in part of the 

transferred authorities, functions, 

personnel and assets of Treasury’s 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 

Firearms (ATF). Accordingly, 

§ 3101.102 is also amended to remove 

ATF as a designated separate agency. 

Per section 1111(c) of the Act, however, 

Treasury retained certain revenue 

collection functions under chapters 51 

and 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986, sections 4181 and 4182 of the 

Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and title 

27 of the United States Code. Effective 

in 2003, Treasury exercised these 

retained duties through the 

establishment of a new bureau, the 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau (TTB). TTB’s duties generally 

focus on excise taxation of alcohol, 

tobacco, firearms and ammunition 

products and the regulation of the 

operations and practices of certain 

alcohol and tobacco producers. TTB 

exercises distinct and separate functions 

from other Treasury bureaus and offices. 

Pursuant to 5 CFR 2635.203(a), the 

Department amends § 3101.102 to 

designate TTB as a separate agency for 

purposes of the OGE Gift Rules and the 

OGE Teaching-Speaking-Writing Rules. 

In addition, § 3101.105, Additional rules 

for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 

Firearms employees, is amended to 

remove references to ATF and add TTB 

references in their place. 

Office of the Special Inspector 

General for the Troubled Asset Relief 

Program (SIGTARP): EESA established 

the Office of Financial Stability within 

the Department of the Treasury and 

authorized the Troubled Asset Relief 

Program (TARP). In Title I, EESA also 

created SIGTARP. Like TIGTA, 

SIGTARP exercises the duties and 

responsibilities of an Inspector General 

organization, focusing on matters 

relating to the purchase, management 

and sale of assets under TARP. 

SIGTARP is organizationally placed 

within Treasury, but exercises distinct 

and separate functions from other 

Treasury offices and bureaus. Pursuant 

to 5 CFR 2635.203(a), the Department 

amends the Supplemental Standards to 

designate SIGTARP as a separate agency 

in § 3101.102 for purposes of the OGE 

Gift Rules and the OGE TeachingSpeaking-Writing Rules. 

The Offices of Thrift Supervision and 

Comptroller of the Currency (OTS and 

OCC): The Dodd-Frank Act provides for 

a comprehensive overhaul of financial 

services regulation in the United States. 

Under Title III of the Dodd-Frank Act, 

OCC assumed, as of July 21, 2011, all 

functions of OTS related to Federal 

savings associations and the rulemaking 

authority of OTS related to all savings 

associations, both Federal and state. 

OTS was abolished ninety days later.6

Title III also provided for the transfer of 

OTS employees to either OCC or the 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

(FDIC), allocated as necessary to 

perform or support OTS functions 

transferred to OCC and FDIC, 

respectively.7 This rule amends the 

Supplemental Standards to reflect the 

foregoing changes. Pursuant to 5 CFR 

2635.203(a), this final rule removes OTS 

from § 3101.102 as a separate agency 

and removes § 3101.109, Additional 

rules for Office of Thrift Supervision 

employees, from part 3101. 

Bureau of the Fiscal Service: Effective 

in October 2012, Treasury consolidated 

the Financial Management Service 

(FMS) and Bureau of the Public Debt 

(BPD) into a new Bureau of the Fiscal 

Service (BFS). BFS will carry out the 

former missions of FMS and BPD, 

generally, engaging in the borrowing of 

money needed to operate the Federal 

government, administering the public 

debt, receiving and disbursing public 

monies, and maintaining government 

accounts. BFS exercises distinct and 

separate functions from other Treasury 

bureaus and offices. Pursuant to 5 CFR 

2635.203(a), this final rule amends 

§ 3101.102 of the Supplemental 

Standards to designate BFS as a separate 

agency for purposes of the OGE Gift 

Rules and the OGE Teaching-SpeakingWriting Rules. 

III. Additional Amendments to OCC 

Supplemental Standards 

The Supplemental Standards, at 5 

CFR 3101.108, set forth rules that apply 

solely to employees of OCC. The 

Supplemental Standards address 

potential conflicts of interest by 

prohibiting OCC employees, subject to 

certain exceptions, from investing in or 


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8 18 U.S.C. 213 generally prohibits an examiner 

from accepting a loan or gratuity from a financial 

institution examined by the examiner. The 

companion statute, 18 U.S.C. 212, prohibits officers, 

directors or employees of financial institutions from 

offering a loan or gratuity to an examiner. Criminal 

penalties apply for violations of these statutes. 

9Pub. L. 108–198, 117 Stat. 2900 (2003), codified 

at 18 U.S.C. 212(c)(4). 

10 18 U.S.C. 212(c)(4). 

11 ‘‘Covered’’ OCC employees include bank 

examiners and all other employees designated by 

the Comptroller under OCC ethics policies. See 5 

CFR 3101.108(b)(3). Under these policies, ‘‘covered 

employee’’ means any employee, except any 

administrative employee, who is required to file 

financial disclosure reports. 

borrowing from the institutions 

supervised by the agency. This rule 

amends both the borrowing and 

securities prohibitions, and the 

exceptions thereto, to ensure that a 

single set of ethics rules, covering 

transactions and relationships with all 

types of entities now supervised by 

OCC, is in place for all OCC employees. 

In addition, other amendments to the 

Supplemental Standards implement 

changes to 18 U.S.C. 212 and 213, 

which generally prohibit an examiner 

from accepting a loan or gratuity from 

a financial institution that he or she 

examines.8 These statutes were 

amended by the Preserving 

Independence of Financial Institution 

Examinations Act of 2003 

(Examinations Act),9 which creates two 

exceptions to the general prohibition. 

Under the Examinations Act, it is no 

longer prohibited for an examiner to 

hold a consumer credit card account or 

obtain a loan secured by residential real 

property that is used as the principal 

residence of the examiner if: (1) The 

examiner satisfies any financial 

requirements for the credit card or 

residential real property loan that are 

generally applicable to all applicants for 

the same type of credit card account or 

residential real property loan; and (2) 

the terms and conditions for the card or 

loan are generally no more favorable to 

the examiner than those generally 

applicable to credit card accounts or 

residential real property loans offered 

by the financial institution to other 

cardholders or borrowers in comparable 

circumstances.10 Those exceptions to 

the borrowing prohibition are included 

in this rule. 

A. Prohibited Financial Interests 

1. General Prohibition 

Section 3108.108(a)(1) currently 

prohibits OCC employees (and their 

spouses and minor children) from 

owning, directly or indirectly, securities 

of any commercial bank (including both 

national and state-chartered banks) or 

commercial bank affiliate, including a 

bank holding company. Because OCC 

now directly supervises Federal savings 

associations, the final rule amends 5 

CFR. 3101.108(a) to expand this list of 

institutions in which an OCC employee 

may not invest to include Federal 

savings associations, state savings 

associations, affiliates of savings 

associations (including savings and loan 

holding companies), and foreign banks, 

which may own U.S. commercial banks 

or savings associations. In addition, the 

final rule clarifies the following 

exceptions to this general prohibition. 

2. Exceptions to the Securities 

Prohibition 

a. Mutual Funds 

The final rule also amends 

§ 3101.108(a)(3)(i) to clarify the types of 

publicly traded or publicly available 

mutual funds in which OCC employees 

(and their spouses or minor children) 

may invest. The current rule provides 

an exception for OCC employees (and 

their spouses or minor children) to 

invest in a publicly traded or publicly 

available mutual fund or other 

collective investment fund or in a 

widely held pension or similar fund 

provided that the fund does not invest 

more than 25 percent of its assets in the 

securities of the institutions in which 

OCC employees are prohibited from 

investing. The inclusion of a percentage 

test in this provision has made the 

exception difficult to administer 

because the percentage of a mutual 

fund’s investment in a particular sector 

may change frequently. The final rule 

eliminates the 25 percent asset test and 

provides instead that OCC employees 

(and their spouses or minor children) 

may invest in any publicly traded or 

publicly available mutual fund, 

collective investment fund or pooled 

investment fund, or widely-held 

pension or similar fund that does not 

have a stated policy of concentration in 

the financial services industry, provided 

that neither the employee nor the 

employee’s spouse exercises or has the 

ability to exercise control over the 

financial interests held by the fund or 

the selection of fund holdings. 

b. Exempt Holding Companies 

The final rule also amends 5 CFR 

3101.108(a)(3)(ii) to expand the 

exception to the investment prohibition 

for certain holding companies that own 

nonbank banks or credit card banks to 

also include savings and loan holding 

companies where the ownership or 

operation of savings associations is not 

a significant activity (generally less than 

15 percent of the assets) of the holding 

company. However, an employee who 

owns such an interest would be 

disqualified from participating in the 

regulation or supervision of the savings 

associations. This exception is intended 

to permit interests of a character 

unlikely to raise questions regarding the 

objective and impartial performance of 

OCC employees’ official duties or the 

possible misuse of their positions. An 

example of an exempt holding company 

would be a large retailer that is a savings 

and loan holding company where the 

savings association constitutes only 14 

percent of the holding company’s assets. 

The companies to which this exception 

applies will be identified on a list 

maintained by the OCC Ethics Counsel 

and updated on a quarterly basis. 

c. Foreign Bank Securities 

The final rule also includes a new 

exception at 5 CFR 3101.108(a)(3)(iii) 

that establishes the conditions under 

which OCC employees (and their 

spouses or minor children) may invest 

in the securities of foreign banks. The 

exception permits OCC employees (and 

their spouses or minor children) to 

invest in the securities of any foreign 

bank that does not own a commercial 

bank or savings association in the 

United States. The exception is 

available to OCC employees (and their 

spouses or minor children), except 

where the OCC employee is assigned to 

examine a Federal branch or agency of 

that foreign bank. 

d. Use of Institution as Custodian or 

Trustee 

The final rule amends the 

redesignated § 3101.108(a)(3)(iv) to 

expand the exception that permits OCC 

employees to use institutions under 

OCC’s supervision as custodian or 

trustee of accounts containing taxdeferred retirement accounts. Because 

the general investment prohibition will 

be expanded to include Federal and 

state savings associations, it is 

appropriate to correspondingly expand 

the exception to include those 

institutions as well. The amended 

provision will permit OCC employees to 

use a commercial bank, a savings 

association or an affiliate of a 

commercial bank or savings association 

as custodian or trustee of accounts 

containing tax-deferred retirement 

funds. 

B. Prohibited Borrowing 

1. General Prohibition 

Section 3101.108(b)(1) of the current 

Supplemental Standards generally 

prohibits covered OCC employees,11

subject to certain exceptions discussed 

below, from seeking or obtaining credit 


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12 5 CFR 3101.108(b)(1) (2005). 

13 5 CFR 3101.108(b)(2). 

14 5 CFR 3101.108(b)(4)(i). 

15 5 CFR 3101.108(b)(4)(ii). 

16The term ‘‘subsidiary’’ has the meaning set 

forth in 12 U.S.C. 1813(w)(4). 

17Covered OCC employees will also be required 

to disclose the status of such loans on their annual 

financial disclosure reports. 

from a national bank or from any officer, 

director, employee or subsidiary of any 

national bank.12 This prohibition 

extends to the spouses and minor 

children of covered OCC employees, 

unless the loan or extension of credit 

meets certain standards.13 To reflect the 

OCC’s assumption of supervisory duties 

for Federal savings associations, the 

final rule amends 5 CFR 3101.108(b)(1) 

to prohibit covered OCC employees 

from seeking or obtaining credit from 

any national bank or Federal savings 

association as well as any officer, 

director, employee or subsidiary of 

those institutions. 

2. Exceptions to the Borrowing 

Prohibition 

a. Credit Cards 

The Supplemental Standards 

currently include an exception to the 

general borrowing prohibition for credit 

card accounts. Under the current rule, 

covered OCC employees, except 

examiners, may obtain and hold a credit 

card from a national bank or its 

subsidiary if the credit card is issued on 

terms and conditions no more favorable 

than those offered to the general 

public.14 The regulations state that an 

examiner (or a spouse or minor child of 

an examiner) may obtain and hold a 

credit card from a national bank or its 

subsidiary only if the credit card is 

issued on terms and conditions no more 

favorable than those offered to the 

general public and the examiner 

submits to the Chief Counsel or 

designee a written disqualification from 

the examination of that bank.15

With the passage of the Examinations 

Act, examiners are no longer prohibited 

from obtaining and holding credit cards 

from national banks, Federal savings 

associations and their subsidiaries.16

The final rule amends the Supplemental 

Standards to implement this change and 

to remove the requirement for written 

disqualification as unnecessary because 

the terms and conditions of a credit card 

account are generally established 

according to a formula of 

creditworthiness and income rather 

than as a result of negotiation and, 

therefore, the risk of examiner conflicts 

of interest is minimal. Thus, the final 

rule permits all covered OCC employees 

(and their spouses or minor children) to 

seek, obtain and hold credit cards 

issued by national banks, Federal 

savings associations and their 

subsidiaries if: the applicant satisfies all 

financial requirements set by the lender 

that are generally applicable to all 

applicants for the same type of credit 

card account; and the applicable terms 

and conditions are no more favorable 

than those generally applicable to credit 

card accounts offered by the same 

lender to other cardholders in 

comparable circumstances. 

An employee who holds a credit card 

(or whose spouse or minor child holds 

a credit card) must submit a written 

recusal notice to his or her supervisor 

and ethics official if the cardholder 

becomes involved in an adversarial 

dispute with the issuer of the credit card 

account. A cardholder is involved in an 

adversarial dispute if he or she is 

delinquent in payments on the credit 

card account; the issuer and the 

cardholder are negotiating to restructure 

the credit card debt; the cardholder 

disputes the terms and conditions of the 

account; or the cardholder becomes 

involved in any disagreement with the 

issuer that may cast doubt on the 

employee’s ability to remain impartial 

with respect to the issuer. 

b. Loans Secured by Principal Residence 

The Supplemental Standards 

currently do not provide an exception to 

the borrowing prohibition that would 

permit any OCC employees to obtain 

principal residence mortgage loans from 

supervised institutions. As noted 

previously, under the Examinations Act, 

examiners may now obtain such loans. 

The final rule therefore includes a new 

exception to the borrowing prohibition 

to permit all covered OCC employees to 

seek and obtain these loans from 

national banks, Federal savings 

associations, and their subsidiaries 

under certain conditions that ensure 

compliance with 18 U.S.C. 213. 

Under this exception the applicant 

must satisfy all financial requirements 

set by the lender for the residential real 

property loan that are generally 

applicable to borrowers for the same 

type of loan, and the terms and 

conditions applicable to the loan must 

be no more favorable than those 

generally applicable to the same type of 

loan offered by the same lender to other 

borrowers in comparable circumstances. 

In order to manage the risks of real or 

perceived conflicts of interest that may 

be associated with the negotiation of a 

real property loan, the OCC will require 

a covered employee who seeks or 

obtains (or whose spouse or minor child 

seeks or obtains) from a national bank, 

a Federal savings association or a 

subsidiary of either institution a real 

property loan secured by the applicant’s 

principal residence to observe from the 

time of the initial application any 

recusal established under OCC ethics 

policy.17

3. Pre-existing Credit 

Section 3101.108(b)(5) currently 

permits covered OCC employees (and 

their spouses and minor children) to 

retain pre-existing credit from national 

banks if the loan was incurred prior to 

employment with the OCC or is held by 

a national bank as a result of the sale or 

transfer of the loan to the bank or due 

to the conversion or merger of the 

lender into a national bank. Due to the 

OCC’s expanded supervisory 

responsibilities over Federal savings 

associations as of the transfer date, the 

final rule amends 5 CFR 3101.108(b)(5) 

to provide the same treatment for preexisting credit from both national banks 

and Federal savings associations, 

including credit obtained from Federal 

savings associations prior to the transfer 

of the supervision of those institutions 

to the OCC. An employee who retains 

pre-existing credit (or whose spouse or 

minor child retains pre-existing credit) 

from a national bank or Federal savings 

association must observe any recusal 

established under OCC ethics policy. 

4. Prohibited Recommendations 

Section 3101.108(d) currently 

prohibits OCC employees from making 

recommendations or suggestions, 

directly or indirectly, concerning the 

acquisition or sale or other divestiture of 

securities of any commercial bank or 

commercial bank affiliate, including a 

bank holding company. The OCC has 

determined that OCC employees should 

be prohibited from making 

recommendations with regard to the 

same set of institutions in which they 

are prohibited from investing. 

Therefore, the final rule expands this 

section to prohibit OCC employees from 

making any recommendations with 

regard to any commercial bank 

(including both national and statechartered banks), Federal savings 

association, state savings association, or 

any affiliate of these institutions 

(including bank holding companies, 

savings and loan holding companies, 

and the non-bank subsidiaries of either 

type of holding company), and foreign 

banks that own a commercial bank or 

savings association in the United States. 

C. Technical Changes 

The final rule amends certain other 

provisions of the Supplemental 

Standards to expand existing references 


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to banks, commercial banks, national 

banks and national bank affiliates to 

include references to Federal savings 

associations. The definition of covered 

employee in § 3101.108(b)(3) is 

amended to refer to ‘‘OCC examiner,’’ 

rather than ‘‘OCC bank examiner.’’ 

Section 3101.108(e) is amended to 

prohibit the purchase of assets from 

Federal savings associations as well as 

national banks. Section 3101.108(f)(1) is 

amended to prohibit outside 

employment with banks, savings 

associations, and the affiliates of both 

banks and savings associations, and the 

definition of covered OCC employee, for 

purposes of this section, is amended to 

refer to ‘‘OCC examiner,’’ rather than 

‘‘OCC bank examiner.’’ 

Administrative Procedure Act 

Under 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), rules 

relating to agency management or 

personnel are exempt from the 

rulemaking requirements of the 

Administrative Procedure Act (APA). As 

set forth in the description of the final 

rule, this rule affects only the 

Department and its personnel. Even if 

this rulemaking were subject to APA 

proposed rulemaking procedures, the 

Department finds good cause, pursuant 

to 5 U.S.C. 553(b) and (d), to waive the 

requirements for notice and comment 

because the rule affects only Treasury 

staff and also operates to put in place a 

set of ethical rules appropriate for OCC 

employees after the transfer date. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis 

Because no notice of proposed 

rulemaking is required, the provisions 

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.) do not apply. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Section 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(Unfunded Mandates Act) requires an 

agency to prepare a budgetary impact 

statement before promulgating a rule 

that includes a federal mandate that 

may result in expenditure by State, 

local, and tribal governments, in the 

aggregate, or by the private sector, of 

$100 million or more in any one year. 

If a budgetary impact statement is 

required, section 205 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Act also requires an agency to 

identify and consider a reasonable 

number of regulatory alternatives before 

promulgating a rule. This rule generally 

accounts for changes to Treasury’s 

mission and organization and restricts 

OCC employees, subject to certain 

exceptions, from engaging in certain 

borrowing, investment, and outside 

employment activities. The Department 

therefore has determined that the rule 

will not result in expenditures by state, 

local or tribal governments or by the 

private sector of $100 million or more. 

Accordingly, the Department has not 

prepared a budgetary impact statement 

or specifically addressed the regulatory 

alternatives considered. 

Lists of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 3101 

Conflict of interests, Ethics, 

Extensions of credit, Government 

employees, OCC employees. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Department, with the 

concurrence of OGE, amends 5 CFR part 

3101 as follows: 

PART 3101—SUPPLEMENTAL 

STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT 

FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 3101 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C 301, 7301, 7353; 5 

U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government Act of 

1978); 18 U.S.C. 212, 213, 26 U.S.C. 7214(b); 

E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR, 1989 Comp., 

p. 215, as modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR 

42547, 3 CFR, 1990 Comp., p. 306; 5 CFR 

2635.105, 2635.203(a), 2635.403(a), 2635.803, 

2635.807(a)(2)(ii). 

■ 2. Revise § 3101.102 to read as 

follows: 

§ 3101.102 Designation of separate agency 

components. 

Pursuant to 5 CFR 2635.203(a), each 

of the following components of the 

Department of the Treasury is 

designated as a separate agency for 

purposes of the regulations contained in 

subpart B of 5 CFR part 2635 governing 

gifts from outside sources and 5 CFR 

2635.807 governing teaching, speaking 

or writing: 

(a) Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 

Trade Bureau (TTB); 

(b) Bureau of Engraving and Printing; 

(c) Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS); 

(d) Financial Crimes Enforcement 

Network (FinCEN); 

(e) Internal Revenue Service (IRS); 

(f) Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency (OCC); 

(g) Office of the Inspector General; 

(h) Office of the Special Inspector 

General for the Troubled Asset Relief 

Program (SIGTARP); 

(i) Office of the Treasury Inspector 

General for Tax Administration 

(TIGTA); and 

(j) United States Mint. 

Note to § 3101.102: As a result of the 

designations contained in this section, 

employees of the remaining parts of the 

Department of the Treasury (e.g., employees 

in Departmental Offices) will also be treated 

as employees of an agency that is separate 

from all of the above listed bureaus and 

offices for purposes of determining whether 

the donor of a gift is a prohibited source 

under 5 CFR 2635.203(d) and for identifying 

an employee’s ‘‘agency’’ under 5 CFR 

2635.807 governing teaching, speaking and 

writing. For purposes of this section, 

employees in the Legal Division shall be 

considered to be part of the bureaus or offices 

in which they serve. 

■ 3. Section 3101.105 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 3101.105 Additional rules for Alcohol 

and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau 

employees. 

The following rules apply to the 

employees of the Alcohol and Tobacco 

Tax and Trade Bureau and are in 

addition to §§ 3101.101 through 

3101.104. 

(a) Prohibited financial interests. 

Except as provided in this section, no 

employee of TTB, or spouse or minor 

child of a TTB employee, shall have, 

directly or indirectly, any financial 

interest, including compensated 

employment, in the alcohol, tobacco, 

firearms or explosives industries. The 

term financial interest is defined in 

§ 2635.403(c) of this title. 

(b) Waiver. An agency designee, with 

the advice and legal clearance of the 

DAEO or Office of the Chief Counsel, 

may grant a written waiver of the 

prohibition in paragraph (a) of this 

section on a determination that the 

financial interest is not prohibited by 26 

U.S.C. 7214(b) and that, in the mind of 

a reasonable person with knowledge of 

the particular circumstances, the 

financial interest will not create an 

appearance of misuse of position or loss 

of impartiality, or call into question the 

impartiality and objectivity with which 

TTB’s programs are administered. A 

waiver under this paragraph may 

require appropriate conditions, such as 

execution of a written disqualification. 

■ 4. Section 3101.106 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 3101.106 Additional rules for Internal 

Revenue Service and Treasury Inspector 

General for Tax Administration employees. 

The following rules apply to the 

employees of the Internal Revenue 

Service and the Treasury Inspector 

General for Tax Administration and are 

in addition to §§ 3101.101 through 

3101.104. 

(a) Prohibited recommendations. 

Employees of the IRS or TIGTA shall 

not recommend, refer or suggest, 

specifically or by implication, any 

attorney, accountant, or firm of 

attorneys or accountants to any person 

in connection with any official business 

which involves or may involve the IRS. 


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(b) Prohibited outside employment. 

Involvement by an employee of the IRS 

or TIGTA in the following types of 

outside employment or business 

activities is prohibited and shall 

constitute a conflict with the employee’s 

official duties pursuant to 5 CFR 

2635.802: 

(1) Performance of legal services 

involving Federal, State or local tax 

matters; 

(2) Appearing on behalf of any 

taxpayer as a representative before any 

Federal, State, or local government 

agency, in an action involving a tax 

matter except on written authorization 

of the Commissioner of Internal 

Revenue or the Treasury Inspector 

General for Tax Administration; 

(3) Engaging in accounting, or the use, 

analysis, and interpretation of financial 

records when such activity involves tax 

matters; 

(4) Engaging in bookkeeping, the 

recording of transactions, or the recordmaking phase of accounting, when such 

activity is directly related to a tax 

determination; and 

(5) Engaging in the preparation of tax 

returns for compensation, gift, or favor. 

(c) Seasonal employees. Seasonal 

employees of the IRS while in non-duty 

status may engage in outside 

employment or activities other than 

those prohibited by paragraph (b) of this 

section without obtaining prior written 

permission. 

■ 5. Section 3101.108 is amended by: 

■ a. Revising paragraphs (a)(1) and 

(a)(3)(i) and (ii); 

■ b. Redesignating paragraphs (a)(3)(iii) 

and (iv) as paragraphs (a)(3)(iv) and (v), 

respectively, and adding a new 

paragraph (a)(3)(iii); 

■ c. Revising newly designated 

paragraph (a)(3)(iv) and paragraphs 

(b)(1), (b)(3)(i), (b)(4) and (5), (d), (e), 

(f)(1), and (f)(2)(i). 

The addition and revisions read as 

follows. 

§ 3101.108 Additional rules for Office of 

the Comptroller of the Currency employees. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) Prohibition. Except as provided in 

paragraphs (a)(3) and (g) of this section, 

no OCC employee, or spouse or minor 

child of an OCC employee, shall own, 

directly or indirectly, securities of any 

commercial bank (including both 

national and state-chartered banks), 

Federal savings association, state 

savings association, or of any affiliate of 

these institutions (including bank 

holding companies, savings and loan 

holding companies, and non-bank 

subsidiaries of either type of holding 

company), or of any foreign bank. 

* * * * * 

(3) * * * 

(i) Owning an interest in a publicly 

traded or publicly available mutual 

fund, other collective investment fund 

or pooled investment product, or a 

widely-held pension or other similar 

fund if the fund does not have a stated 

policy of concentration in the financial 

services industry and neither the 

employee nor the employee’s spouse 

exercises or has the ability to exercise 

control over the financial interests held 

by the fund or the selection of fund 

holdings; 

(ii) Owning securities in a publicly 

traded company owning banks or 

savings associations if— 

(A) By virtue of the limited activities 

of the banks or savings associations, the 

ownership of banks or savings 

associations does not cause their parent 

holding company to become a bank 

holding company under the Bank 

Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 

U.S.C. 1841 et seq, (for example, a bank 

engaged only in credit card activities); 

(B) For savings and loan holding 

companies, the ownership or operation 

of savings associations is not a 

significant activity (generally less than 

15% of the assets) of the holding 

company; 

(C) The company is identified as 

meeting the requirements of (A) or (B) 

above on a list maintained by the OCC 

Ethics Counsel; and 

(D) The employee owning or seeking 

to purchase the securities does not 

participate in the regulation or 

supervision of any bank or savings 

association owned or operated by the 

company; 

(iii) Owning the securities of a foreign 

bank that does not own a commercial 

bank or savings association in the 

United States provided that the 

employee owning the securities does 

not participate in the regulation or 

supervision of any Federal branch or 

agency operated by the foreign bank; 

(iv) Using a commercial bank, a 

savings association or an affiliate of a 

commercial bank or savings association 

as custodian or trustee of accounts 

containing tax-deferred retirement 

funds; or 

(b) * * * 

(1) Prohibition on employee 

borrowing. Except as provided in this 

section, no covered OCC employee shall 

seek or obtain credit from any national 

bank or Federal savings association or 

from any officer, director, employee or 

subsidiary of a national bank or Federal 

savings association. 

* * * * * 

(3) * * * 

(i) An OCC examiner; and 

* * * * * 

(4) Exceptions—(i) Credit cards. A 

covered OCC employee or the spouse or 

minor child of such a covered OCC 

employee may seek, obtain or hold a 

credit card from a national bank, a 

Federal savings association or a 

subsidiary of a national bank or Federal 

savings association if— 

(A) The applicant satisfies all 

financial requirements set by the lender 

that are generally applicable to all 

applicants for the same type of credit 

card account; 

(B) The terms and conditions 

applicable with respect to the credit 

card account and any credit extended 

under the account are no more favorable 

generally to the applicant than the terms 

and conditions that are generally 

applicable to credit card accounts 

offered by the same lender to other 

cardholders in comparable 

circumstances; 

(C) An employee who holds a credit 

card (or whose spouse or minor child 

holds a credit card) must submit a 

written recusal notice to his or her 

supervisor and ethics official if the 

cardholder becomes involved in an 

adversarial dispute with the issuer of 

the credit card account. A cardholder is 

involved in an adversarial dispute if he 

or she is delinquent in payments on the 

credit card account; the issuer and the 

cardholder are negotiating to restructure 

the credit card debt; the cardholder 

disputes the terms and conditions of the 

account; or the cardholder becomes 

involved in any disagreement with the 

issuer that may cast doubt on the 

employee’s ability to remain impartial 

with respect to the issuer. 

(ii) Loans secured by principal 

residence. A covered OCC employee or 

the spouse or minor child of a covered 

OCC employee may seek and obtain a 

loan from a national bank, a Federal 

savings association or a subsidiary of a 

national bank or Federal savings 

association subject to the following 

conditions: 

(A) The loan is secured by residential 

real property that is the applicant’s 

principal residence; 

(B) The applicant must satisfy all 

financial requirements set by the lender 

for the residential real property loan 

that are generally applicable to 

borrowers for the same type of 

residential real property loan; and 

(C) The terms and conditions 

applicable with respect to the 

residential real property loan and any 

credit extended under the loan must be 

no more favorable generally to the 


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applicant than the terms and conditions 

that are generally applicable to 

residential real property loans offered 

by the same lender to other borrowers 

in comparable circumstances. 

(iii) A covered employee who seeks or 

obtains a real property loan from a 

national bank, Federal savings 

association or a subsidiary of a national 

bank or Federal savings association or 

whose spouse or minor child obtains a 

real property loan under the 

requirements of paragraph (b)(4)(ii) 

above must observe from the time of the 

initial application any recusal 

established under OCC ethics policy. 

(5) Pre-existing credit. (i) This section 

does not prohibit a covered OCC 

employee, or spouse or minor child of 

a covered OCC employee from retaining 

a loan or extension of credit from a 

national bank or Federal savings 

association on its original terms, and 

subject to any recusal established under 

OCC ethics policy, if the loan or 

extension of credit: 

(A) Was incurred prior to employment 

by the OCC; 

(B) Was obtained from a lender that 

was not supervised by the OCC at the 

time it was obtained; or 

(C) Is held by a national bank or 

Federal savings association or 

subsidiary thereof as the result of the 

sale or transfer of a loan to the national 

bank or Federal savings association or 

the conversion or merger of the lender 

into a national bank or Federal savings 

association. 

(ii) Any renewal or renegotiation of a 

pre-existing loan or extension of credit 

will be treated as a new loan subject to 

the prohibitions in paragraph (b)(1) of 

this section. 

* * * * * 

(d) Prohibited recommendations. 

Employees of the OCC shall not make 

recommendations or suggestions, 

directly or indirectly, concerning the 

acquisition or sale or other divestiture of 

securities of any commercial bank 

(including both national and statechartered banks), Federal savings 

association, state savings association, 

affiliate of these institutions (including 

bank holding companies, savings and 

loan holding companies, and any nonbank subsidiaries of either type of 

holding company), or foreign bank that 

owns a commercial bank or savings 

association in the United States. 

(e) Prohibited purchase of assets. No 

employee of the OCC, or spouse or 

minor child of an OCC employee, shall 

purchase, directly or indirectly, an asset 

(i.e. real property, automobiles, 

furniture, or similar items) from a 

national bank or Federal savings 

association or an affiliate of a national 

bank or a Federal savings association, 

including a bank or savings and loan 

holding company, unless it is sold at a 

public auction or by other means which 

ensure that the selling price is the 

asset’s fair market value. 

(f) Outside employment—(1) 

Prohibition on Outside Employment. No 

covered OCC employee shall perform 

services for compensation for any bank, 

savings association or a bank or savings 

association affiliate, or for any officer, 

director or employee of, or for any 

person connected in any capacity with 

a bank, savings association or bank or 

savings association affiliate. 

(2) * * * 

(i) An OCC examiner; and 

* * * * * 

§ 3101.109 [Removed] 

■ 5. Remove § 3101.109. 

§ 3101.110 [Removed] 

■ 6. Remove § 3101.110. 

§ 3101.111 [Removed] 

■ 7. Remove reserved § 3101.111. 

Dated: October 14, 2014. 

By the Department of the Treasury. 

Christopher J. Meade, 

General Counsel. 

Dated: October 24, 2014. 

By the Office of Government Ethics. 

Walter M. Shaub, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26173 Filed 11–5–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–25–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–0894; Special 

Conditions No. 25–532–SC] 

Special Conditions: Airbus A350–900 

Series Airplane; Interaction of Systems 

and Structures 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions, request 

for comments; correction. 

SUMMARY: This document corrects errors 

that appeared in final special conditions 

docket no. FAA–2013–0894, which was 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 20, 2013 (78 FR 76980). The 

errors are in the document’s special 

conditions stage (notice vs. final) and 

special conditions number. 

DATES: This action is effective 

November 6, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Todd Martin, FAA, Airframe/Cabin 

Safety, ANM–115, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification 

Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., 

Renton, Washington, 98057–3356; 

telephone (425) 227–1178; facsimile 

(425) 227–1320. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final 

special conditions document designated 

as ‘‘Docket No. FAA–2013–0894; Notice 

No. 25–13–16–SC’’ was published in the 

Federal Register on December 20, 2013 

(78 FR 76980). The document issued 

special conditions pertaining to 

interaction of systems and structures on 

Airbus A350–900 series airplanes. 

As published, the document 

contained two errors: One referring to 

the document’s special conditions stage, 

‘‘Notice no.,’’ instead of ‘‘Special 

Conditions No.;’’ and one in the special 

conditions number itself, 25–13–16–SC 

(a notice number), instead of 25–532–SC 

(the assigned final special conditions 

number). 

Because this error and correction do 

not affect the regulatory content of the 

special conditions, the special 

conditions are not being re-published. 

Correction 

In the final special conditions, request 

for comments document [FR Doc. 2013– 

30235, Filed 12–19–13; 8:45 a.m.] 

published on December 20, 2013 (78 FR 

76980), make the following correction: 

On page 76980, in the first column, in 

the heading, correct ‘‘Notice No. 25–13– 

16–SC’’ to read ‘‘Special Conditions No. 

25–532–SC’’. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on October 

31, 2014. 

Michael Kaszycki, 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26341 Filed 11–5–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–1064; Directorate 

Identifier 2012–NM–101–AD; Amendment 

39–17991; AD 2014–20–18] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule. 


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