Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY › Chapter 33 - STATEMENT OF INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, POLICIES, AND GUIDELINES OF THE TEXAS PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND › Subchapter A - STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RULES › Section 33.4 - Ethical Standards for Members of the State Board of Education

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Definitions. For
				  purposes of this section, the following definitions have the following
				  meanings.
(1) Commissioner--the commissioner
				  of education. As the commissioner is an employee of the Texas Education Agency
				  (TEA), any provisions that apply to TEA employees apply to the
				  commissioner.
(2) Official act or
				  official action--a vote, decision, recommendation, approval, disapproval, or
				  other action, including inaction, that involves the use of discretionary
				  authority.
(3) Permanent School
				  Fund (PSF) service provider--any person who provides services to the PSF or
				  relating to the management or investment of the PSF, including, but not limited
				  to, external investment managers and consultants, banks, custodians, and
				  professional services (attorneys, accountants, etc.). Notwithstanding the
				  foregoing, for all purposes under this section, the term PSF service provider
				  excludes State Board of Education (SBOE) members, TEA employees, and private
				  fund managers. PSF service providers who provide services to the Texas PSF
				  Corporation are covered by the Texas PSF Corporation's ethics policy.
(4) Personal securities transactions--
(A) transactions for a member's or employee's
				  own account, including an individual retirement account; or
(B) transactions for an account, other than
				  an account over which the member or employee has no direct or indirect
				  influence or control, in which the member or employee (or the member's or
				  employee's spouse, minor child, or other dependent relative):
(i) is an income or principal beneficiary or
				  other equity owner of the account; or
(ii) receives compensation for managing the
				  account for the benefit of persons other than the member or employee or his or
				  her family.
(5) Private fund manager--a person who
				  controls a non-publicly traded investment fund or other investment vehicle
				  (including, but not limited to, a partnership, limited liability company,
				  trust, association, or other entity) in which the PSF is invested. A private
				  fund manager may include the vehicle's sponsor, general partner, managing
				  member, manager, advisor, or other agent thereof. For purposes of this section,
				  private fund managers are not considered to be PSF service providers.
(6) Publicly traded securities--securities of
				  a class that is listed on a national securities exchange or quoted on the
				  NASDAQ national market system in the United States or that is publicly traded
				  on any foreign stock exchange or other foreign market.
(7) Relative--an individual related within
				  the third degree by consanguinity (blood relative) or the second degree by
				  affinity (marriage) determined in accordance with Texas Government Code,
				  §§
											573.021 -
				  573.025. For purposes
				  of this definition:
(A) examples of a relative
				  within the third degree by consanguinity are a child, grandchild,
				  great-grandchild, parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, brother, sister,
				  uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew;
(B)
				  examples of a relative within the second degree by affinity are a spouse, an
				  individual related to a spouse within the second degree by consanguinity, or a
				  spouse of such an individual;
(C)
				  an individual adopted into a family is considered a relative on the same basis
				  as a natural born family member; and
(D) an individual is considered a spouse even
				  if the marriage has been dissolved by death or divorce if there are surviving
				  children of that marriage.
(8) Texas Education Agency (TEA) employee--a
				  person employed by TEA who provides advice to the SBOE, commissioner, or TEA
				  concerning the PSF.