Title: End SHELLs Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
End Secret Holdings and Ethical and Legal Loopholes Act of 2017 or the End SHELLs Act
This bill amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the President, Vice President, or any high-level official, to file a report with the Office of Government Ethics 30 days after the sale of real property. The report must identify: (1) the name of each beneficial owner of the property, and (2) the current residential or business street address of each beneficial owner of the property.
The report must be published on the website of the Office of Government Ethics.
The Department of Justice may bring a civil action against an individual who knowingly and willingly falsifies information in a report or fails to file a report after the sale of real property.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3295 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3295

 To require the President, the Vice President, and certain high-level 
 officials to file a report with the Office of Government Ethics, when 
    selling real property, disclosing each natural person who is a 
beneficial owner of the real property upon completion of the sale, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2017

  Ms. Maxine Waters of California (for herself, Mr. Conyers, and Ms. 
  Velazquez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the President, the Vice President, and certain high-level 
 officials to file a report with the Office of Government Ethics, when 
    selling real property, disclosing each natural person who is a 
beneficial owner of the real property upon completion of the sale, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``End Secret Holdings and Ethical and 
Legal Loopholes Act of 2017'' or the ``End SHELLs Act''.

SEC. 2. BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 103) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m)(1) Not later than 30 days after the sale of real property by 
the President, the Vice President, or any high-level official (whether 
such sale is made directly or indirectly through a trust, corporation, 
or other legal entity or through a nominee, agent, spouse, or minor 
child), the President, Vice President, or high-level official, as 
applicable, shall file a report with the Director of the Office of 
Government Ethics with respect to such sale, identifying the name and 
current residential or business street address of each natural person 
who is a beneficial owner of the real property upon completion of the 
sale.
    ``(2) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall make 
all reports filed pursuant to this subsection available to the public, 
including on the website of the Office of Government Ethics.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection--
            ``(A) with respect to real property, the term `beneficial 
        owner'--
                    ``(i) except as provided under clause (ii), means a 
                natural person who, directly or indirectly--
                            ``(I) exercises substantial control over 
                        the real property, through ownership interests, 
                        voting rights, agreement, or otherwise; or
                            ``(II) has a substantial interest in or 
                        receives substantial economic benefits from the 
                        real property; and
                    ``(ii) does not include--
                            ``(I) a minor child;
                            ``(II) a natural person acting as a 
                        nominee, intermediary, custodian, or agent on 
                        behalf of another person;
                            ``(III) a natural person acting solely as 
                        an employee of a corporation or limited 
                        liability company and whose control over or 
                        receipt of economic benefits from the real 
                        property derives solely from the employment 
                        status of the person;
                            ``(IV) a natural person whose only interest 
                        in the real property is through a right of 
                        inheritance, unless the natural person also 
                        meets the requirements of paragraph (1); or
                            ``(V) a creditor of a person, unless the 
                        creditor also meets the requirements of 
                        paragraph (1); and
            ``(B) the term `high-level official'--
                    ``(i) means--
                            ``(I) any officer occupying a position 
                        listed in section 5312 or section 5313 of title 
                        5, United States Code, having been nominated by 
                        the President and confirmed by the Senate to 
                        that position; and
                            ``(II) any individual appointed by the 
                        President or Vice President to a full-time non-
                        career position in the Executive Office of the 
                        President; and
                    ``(ii) does not include any individual appointed as 
                a member of the Senior Foreign Service or solely as a 
                uniformed service commissioned officer.''.
    (b) Failure To File or Filing False Reports.--Section 104 of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 104) is amended by 
striking ``section 102'' each place such term appears and inserting 
``section 102 or 103(m)''.
    (c) Effective Date.--Section 103(m) of the Ethics in Government Act 
of 1978, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to sales of real 
property occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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