Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2011/11/18/2011-29802/reporting-line-for-the-commissions-ethics-counsel
Timestamp: 2017-10-18 12:07:39
Document Index: 780180061

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 200', '§\u2009200', '§\u2009200', 'art 200', '§\u2009200', '§\u2009200', '§\u2009200']

Federal Register :: Reporting Line for the Commission's Ethics Counsel
A Rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission on 11/18/2011
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2011-29802 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2011-29802
Start Preamble Start Printed Page 71449
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) is amending its rules to reflect that the Commission's Office of the Ethics Counsel is now a stand-alone Office of the Commission and that the head of the Office, the Ethics Counsel, reports directly to the Chairman of the Commission.
Shira Pavis Minton, Ethics Counsel, at (202) 551-7938, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549.
On September 16, 2011, the Commission's Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a report recommending, among other things, that the Commission's Ethics Counsel report directly to the Chairman, rather than to the General Counsel.[1] On October 14, 2011, pursuant to Section 1 of Reorganization Plan No. 10 of 1950,[2] the Chairman implemented that recommendation and made the Office of the Ethics Counsel a stand-alone Office of the Commission.
These amendments conform the Commission's regulations, in part 200 of Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations, to the changes to the reporting line and organization of the Office of the Ethics Counsel. They do so by removing several references to oversight of the Ethics Counsel by the General Counsel. In addition, the amendments clarify that the Ethics Counsel, not the General Counsel, serves as Counselor to the Commission and its staff with regard to ethical and conflicts of interest questions and acts as the Commission's liaison on such matters with the Office of Administrative and Personnel Management, the Office of the Inspector General and the Department of Justice.
The Commission is sensitive to the costs and benefits imposed by its rules. The amendments adopted today are procedural in nature and will produce the benefit of conforming the Commission's rules to the changes to the reporting line and organizational structure of the Office of the Ethics Counsel. The Commission also believes that these rules will not impose any costs on non-agency parties, or that if there are any such costs, they are negligible.
2. In § 200.21 paragraph (a), remove the 6th sentence, beginning with “He or she is responsible”, and the 7th sentence, beginning with “He or she serves”.
3. In § 200.21a:
a. In paragraph (a), remove the phrase “within the Office of the General Counsel of the Commission shall oversee compliance with subpart M of this part and
b. In paragraph (b), remove the phrase “Subject to the oversight of the General Counsel or his or her delegate, the” and add in its place the word “The”;
4. The authority citation for Part 200, Subpart M, continues to read as follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 77s, 77sss, 78w, 80a-37, 80b-11; E.O. 11222, 3 CFR, 1964-1965 Comp., p. 36; 5 CFR 735.104 and 5 CFR 2634; and 5 CFR 2635, unless otherwise noted.
5. In § 200.735-11, remove the words “Commission's Office of the General Counsel's” in paragraphs (c), (d) and (e);
6. In § 200.735-15:
(a) In paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d), remove the words “General Counsel” wherever they appear and add in their place the words “Ethics Counsel”;
(b) In paragraphs (b), (e), and (f), remove the phrase “Commission's Office of the General Counsel's”.
7. In § 200.735-17, remove the phrase “Under the general direction of the General Counsel, the”, and add in its place the word “The”.
1. Report of Investigation No. OIG-560, Sept. 16, 2011, pp. 116-117.
2. 15 FR 3175, 64 Stat. 1265 (May 24, 1950).
[FR Doc. 2011-29802 Filed 11-17-11; 8:45 am]