[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: 5CFR2635.501]

[Page 570]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER XVI--OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
 
PART 2635_STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE EXECUTIVE 
BRANCH--Table of Contents
 
          Subpart E_Impartiality in Performing Official Duties
 
Sec. 2635.501  Overview.


    (a) This subpart contains two provisions intended to ensure that an 
employee takes appropriate steps to avoid an appearance of loss of 
impartiality in the performance of his official duties. Under Sec. 
2635.502, unless he receives prior authorization, an employee should not 
participate in a particular matter involving specific parties which he 
knows is likely to affect the financial interests of a member of his 
household, or in which he knows a person with whom he has a covered 
relationship is or represents a party, if he determines that a 
reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question 
his impartiality in the matter. An employee who is concerned that other 
circumstances would raise a question regarding his impartiality should 
use the process described in Sec. 2635.502 to determine whether he 
should or should not participate in a particular matter.
    (b) Under Sec. 2635.503, an employee who has received an 
extraordinary severance or other payment from a former employer prior to 
entering Government service is subject, in the absence of a waiver, to a 
two-year period of disqualification from participation in particular 
matters in which that former employer is or represents a party.

    Note: Questions regarding impartiality necessarily arise when an 
employee's official duties impact upon the employee's own financial 
interests or those of certain other persons, such as the employee's 
spouse or minor child. An employee is prohibited by criminal statute, 18 
U.S.C. 208(a), from participating personally and substantially in an 
official capacity in any particular matter in which, to his knowledge, 
he, his spouse, general partner or minor child has a financial interest, 
if the particular matter will have a direct and predictable effect on 
that interest. The statutory prohibition also extends to an employee's 
participation in a particular matter in which, to his knowledge, an 
organization in which the employee is serving as officer, director, 
trustee, general partner or employee, or with whom he is negotiating or 
has an arrangement concerning prospective employment has a financial 
interest. Where the employee's participation in a particular matter 
would affect any one of these financial interests, the standards set 
forth in subparts D or F of this part apply and only a statutory waiver 
or exemption, as described in Sec. Sec. 2635.402(d) and 2635.605(a), 
will enable the employee to participate in that matter. The 
authorization procedures in Sec. 2635.502(d) may not be used to 
authorize an employee's participation in any such matter. Where the 
employee complies with all terms of the waiver, the granting of a 
statutory waiver will be deemed to constitute a determination that the 
interest of the Government in the employee's participation outweighs the 
concern that a reasonable person may question the integrity of agency 
programs and operations. Similarly, where the employee meets all 
prerequisites for the application of one of the exemptions set forth in 
subpart B of part 2640 of this chapter, that also constitutes a 
determination that the interest of the Government in the employee's 
participation outweighs the concern that a reasonable person may 
question the integrity of agency programs and operations.

[57 FR 35042, Aug. 7, 1992, as amended at 62 FR 48748, Sept. 17, 1997]