[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 45, Volume 1]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 45CFR73.735-904]



[Page 189-190]

 

                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE

 

                    SUBTITLE A--DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

                           AND HUMAN SERVICES

 

PART 73_STANDARDS OF CONDUCT--Table of Contents

 

                 Subpart I_Reporting Financial Interests

 

Sec.  73.735-904  Resolution of apparent or actual conflicts of interest.



    (a) Disqualification from participating in a particular matter or 

category of matters is an appropriate



[[Page 190]]



method for resolving apparent or actual conflicts of interest when the 

interest or activity giving rise to the problem:

    (1) Bears a direct or indirect relationship to particular, 

identifiable duties of the employee involved; and

    (2) Is not so substantial as to affect or give the appearance of 

affecting the integrity of the services which the Government may expect 

of the employee. Whenever disqualification is employed to resolve an 

apparent or actual conflict of interest, the disqualified employee shall 

sign a written statement reflecting the scope of the disqualification 

and the precise nature of the conflicting interest or activity. The 

reviewing official shall keep a file of all such disqualification 

statements and shall monitor compliance with these statements on a 

regular basis.

    (b) Change of assignment is an appropriate method for resolving 

apparent or actual conflicts of interest when the interest giving rise 

to the problem bears a direct or indirect relationship to particular, 

identifiable duties of the employee involved, and those duties 

constitute a significant portion of the employee's position.

    (c) Waiver under 18 U.S.C. 208(b) is an appropriate method for 

resolving apparent or actual conflicts of interest when:

    (1) The employee seeking the waiver reported the financial interest 

that bears some relationship to his or her official duties, and the 

reviewing official, in consultation with a deputy ethics counselor or 

the Department Ethics Counselor, determines that the financial interest 

is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of 

the services which the Government may expect from such employee; or

    (2) By general rule or regulation published in the Federal Register, 

the Department has exempted the financial interest from the requirements 

of 18 U.S.C. 208 and this part as being too remote or too 

inconsequential to affect the integrity of the Government officers' 

service.

    (d) A trust containing a financial interest which may give rise to 

an apparent or actual conflict of interest is an appropriate method of 

resolving such conflicts when:

    (1) The trust is qualified under section 202(f) of the Ethics in 

Government Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-521), as amended, and subject to the 

regulations of the Office of Government Ethics; or

    (2) In the opinion of the Department's Ethics Counselor, it is 

sufficiently independent of the employee involved so that the integrity 

of the employee's services to the Government are not compromised.

    (e) Divestiture is an appropriate method for resolving actual 

conflicts of interest when the nature of the financial interest is such 

that the conflict of interest cannot be adequately resolved by any of 

the methods set forth in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this 

section.

    (f) Terminating an appointment as a method for resolving an actual 

conflict of interest should be used only when it is clear that no other 

remedy can be found which would be acceptable to both the Department and 

the employee. Generally, this method will be employed only in the most 

extreme cases. Such a termination would be subject to adverse action.