[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR2634.405]

[Page 521-522]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER XVI--OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
 
PART 2634_EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE, QUALIFIED TRUSTS, AND 
CERTIFICATES OF DIVESTITURE--Table of Contents
 
                       Subpart D_Qualified Trusts
 
Sec. 2634.405  Certification of trusts.

    (a) Standards. Before a trust may be classified as a qualified blind 
or a qualified diversified trust, under the provisions of Sec. 2634.403 
or Sec. 2634.404 of this subpart, respectively, the trust must be 
certified by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics.
    (1) A trust will be certified for purposes of this subpart only if:
    (i) It is established to the Director's satisfaction that the 
requirements of section 102(f) of the Act and this subpart have been 
met;
    (ii) Certification is in the public interest; and
    (iii) Certification is consistent with the policies established by 
the Act, this subpart and other applicable laws and regulations.
    (2) Certification will not be granted in any case in which, in the 
Director's sole judgment, such action would not be appropriate because 
of the ready availability of other remedies, the lack of any substantive 
ethical concern which would warrant the establishment of a qualified 
trust, or the nature or negligible value of the assets proposed for a 
trust's initial portfolio.
    (b) Certification procedures. The interested parties or their 
representatives should first consult the staff of the Office of 
Government Ethics concerning the appropriateness of, and requirements 
for, certification in the particular case. In order to assure timely 
trust certification, the interested parties shall be responsible for the 
expeditious submission to the Office of all required documents and 
responses to requests for information, including a statement that any 
interested party

[[Page 522]]

who will be a party to a certified trust instrument has read and 
understands the overview of executive branch qualified trusts in Sec. 
2634.401(a) of this subpart. Certification shall be indicated by a 
letter from the Director to the interested parties or their 
representatives.
    (c) Certification of pre-existing trusts. In addition to the 
normally applicable rules of this subpart D, other considerations apply 
to pre-existing trusts. Generally, in the case of a pre-existing trust 
whose terms do not permit amendments satisfying the rules of this 
subpart, all of the relevant parties (including the reporting 
individual, any other interested parties, the trustee of the pre-
existing trust, and all of its other parties and beneficiaries) will be 
required pursuant to section 102(f)(7) of the Act to enter into an 
umbrella agreement specifying that the pre-existing (underlying) trust 
will be administered in accordance with the provisions of this subpart. 
A parent or guardian may execute the umbrella agreement on behalf of a 
required participant who is a dependent child. The umbrella agreement 
will be certified as a qualified trust if all requirements of this 
subpart are fulfilled under conditions where required confidentiality 
with respect to the trust can be assured. A copy of the underlying trust 
instrument, and a list of its assets at the time the umbrella agreement 
is certified as a qualified trust (categorized as to value in accordance 
with Sec. 2634.301(d)), shall be filed with the executed umbrella trust 
instrument as specified by Sec. 2634.408(a)(1)(i) of this subpart.
    (d) Review of certification. The Office of Government Ethics shall 
maintain a program to assess, on a frequent basis, the appropriateness 
of any trust certification which has been granted.
    (e) Revocation of certification and modification of trust 
instrument. Certification of a trust may be revoked pursuant to the 
rules of subpart E of this part. The terms of a qualified trust may not 
be revoked or amended, except with the prior written approval of the 
Director, and upon a showing of necessity and appropriateness.