Source: https://oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/All%20Advisories%20by%20Year?OpenView&RestrictToCategory=1992
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 03:13:10+00:00

Document:
OGE reminds agencies that the recent changes to the gift thresholds are not reflected on the public financial disclosure form. OGE is revising the form to reflect the current thresholds.
Eligible former senior employees may engage in representational activities before a component of their former department or agency if that component has been designated by the Director of OGE pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 207(h) as a separate agency or bureau within the department or agency.
Pre-meeting activities, such as reviewing written materials, by advisory committee members in preparation for a meeting might rise to the level of personal and substantial participation under 18 U.S.C. § 208(a). Waivers under 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(3) must be granted prior to such participation by an advisory committee member.
(Legal) 92x26: Exclusion of Complimentary Newsletter Subscriptions from the Definition of "Gift"
A free subscription to a newsletter that is offered to all Federal employees is excluded from the definition of "gift" found at 5 C.F.R. § 2635.203.
Loans between superiors and their subordinates are to be discouraged. Because of the debtor-creditor relationship, the subordinate would be a person with whom the superior would have a "covered relationship" within the meaning of 5 C.F.R. § 2635.502(b)(1).
OGE discusses the filing cycle for confidential financial disclosure (Oct 1 through Sep 30), the filing of the form by special Government employees, the designation of positions as filing positions, and several other issues.
The Standards of Conduct prohibit a Federal employee from soliciting funds or services from representatives of companies doing business with the Federal Government and using those funds for purposes of the private organization.
Agencies are required to develop written procedures for reviewing, collecting, and evaluating the public and confidential financial disclosure systems.
OGE announces that OMB and GSA have approved the new confidential financial disclosure form (SF 450).
A charitable contribution made on behalf of a Federal employee may not qualify as a gift if it were made as part of a settlement. However, individual circumstances must be evaluated to determine whether such a contribution is consistent with the Standards of Ethical Conduct prohibiting gifts from outside sources.
(Legal) 92x20: Definition of "Senior Employee" and "Very Senior Employee"
OGE discusses the methodology of determining whether a person falls within the statutory definition of "senior employee" or "very senior employee" for the purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c)-(d).
A noncareer member of the Senior Executive Service was deemed to have taken compensation from an outside position that involved a fiduciary relationship in violation of 5 U.S.C. app. § 502 and 5 C.F.R. § 2636.303(b) when he received payments from his medical practice while serving as a public official.
OGE discusses whether a senior Government employee could preclude conflict of interest questions under the "seeking employment" restriction by giving his resume to an employment search firm and asking that it not disclose to him the identity of those to whom the resume has been distributed.
OGE summarizes the changes to the public financial disclosure system and to the qualified trust program which the new interim regulation implements. OGE also highlights the differences between the public financial disclosure system and the new confidential system.
(Legal) 92x15: Definition of "Procurement Official"
Authority to render opinions about who is and who is not a "procurement official" is specifically given to designated agency ethics officials or their delegatees by 41 U.S.C. § 423(k), not OGE.
Certificates of Divestiture are available to parties who qualify as "eligible persons" under the Internal Revenue Code. Such certificates were not intended to be generally available to trustees of a trust which is eligible under the code section, but rather were intended to be available only where all alternative remedies were impracticable.
A federal employee who owns stock in a company that creates a conflict of interest under 18 U.S.C. § 208 may divest the stock or request a recusal, reassignment, or waiver.
Certificates of divestitures are not available for previously divested investment holdings, but rather must be sought from OGE prior to the sale of such holdings.
Where an agency has determined that an employee has a conflict of interest under 18 U.S.C. § 208 with the outside employment of his/her spouse, and has determined not to grant the employee a § 208(b)(1) waiver, OGE is not statutorily enabled to hear appeal or review of the employing agency’s discretion decision.
The acceptance of hospitality gifts by non-GSA employees must be determined on an agency-by-agency basis taking into account the possibility of appearances of impropriety.
When Congress has specifically provided that the Federal Government must continue to pay employees their usual Government salaries during the time they are engaged in union activities, those employees should be considered "on the job" for purposes of pay and compensation. Any additional payments made by outside sources would violate 18 U.S.C. § 209.
Under the circumstances described, the payment for utility services by an occupant (a Government contractor) of her husband's residential property did not constitute a gift.

References: § 207
 § 208
 § 208
 § 2635
 § 2635
 § 207
 § 502
 § 2636
 § 423
 § 208
 § 208
 § 208
 § 209