[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR2634.405]

[Page 528-529]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER XVI--OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
 
PART 2634_EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE, QUALIFIED TRUSTS, AND 
 
                       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 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

[[Page 529]]

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.