[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: 5CFR3401.102]

[Page 705]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
           CHAPTER XXIV--FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
 
PART 3401_SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE 
 
Sec. 3401.102  Prohibited financial interests.

    (a) General prohibition. Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and 
(c) of this section, an employee, or the spouse or minor child of an 
employee, shall not acquire or hold any securities of:
    (1) A natural gas company;
    (2) An interstate oil pipeline;
    (3) A hydroelectric licensee or exemptee;
    (4) A public utility;
    (5) Any electric utility engaged in the wholesale sale or 
transmission of electricity or having obtained an interconnection or 
wheeling order under Part II of the Federal Power Act; or
    (6) The parent company of an entity identified in paragraphs (a)(1) 
through (a)(5) of this section.
    (b) Waiver. The DAEO may grant a written waiver from this section 
based on a determination that the waiver is not inconsistent with part 
2635 of this title or otherwise prohibited by law and that, under the 
particular circumstances, application of the provision is not necessary 
to avoid the appearance of misuse of position or loss of impartiality, 
or otherwise to ensure confidence in the impartiality and objectivity 
with which Commission programs are administered. A waiver under this 
paragraph may impose appropriate conditions, such as requiring execution 
of a written disqualification.
    (c) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
    (1) The term securities includes all interests in debt or equity 
instruments. The term includes, without limitation, secured and 
unsecured bonds, debentures, notes, securitized assets, and commercial 
paper, as well as all types of preferred and common stock. The term 
encompasses both current and contingent ownership interests, including 
any beneficial or legal interest derived from a trust. It extends to any 
right to acquire any long or short position in such securities and 
includes, without limitation, interests convertible into such 
securities, as well as options, rights, warrants, puts, calls and 
straddles with respect thereto. It does not include an interest in a 
publicly traded or publicly available mutual fund or other collective 
investment fund, or in a widely held pension or similar fund, provided 
that the fund's prospectus does not indicate the objective or practice 
of concentrating its investments in entities identified in paragraphs 
(a)(1) through (a)(6) of this section, and the employee neither 
exercises control nor has the ability to exercise control over the 
financial interests held in the fund.
    (2) The term parent means a company that possesses, directly or 
indirectly, the power to direct or cause the direction of the management 
and policies of an entity identified in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5) 
of this section.

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