PART 3101—SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 7301, 7353; 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government Act of 1978); 18 U.S.C. 212, 213; 26 U.S.C. 7214(b); E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR, 1989 Comp., p. 215, as modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR 42547, 3 CFR, 1990 Comp., p. 306; 5 CFR 2635.105, 2635.203(a), 2635.403(a), 2635.803, 2635.807(a)(2)(ii). Source: 60 FR 22251, May 5, 1995, unless otherwise noted. § 3101.101 General. (a) Purpose. See (b) Bureau instructions. See (c) Definition of “agency designee”. See § 3101.102 Designation of separate agency components. Pursuant to 5 CFR 2635.203(a), each of the following components of the Department of the Treasury is designated as a separate agency for purposes of the regulations contained in subpart B of 5 CFR part 2635 governing gifts from outside sources and 5 CFR 2635.807 governing teaching, speaking or writing: (a) Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB); (b) Bureau of Engraving and Printing; (c) Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS); (d) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN); (e) Internal Revenue Service (IRS); (f) Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); (g) Office of the Inspector General; (h) Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP); (i) Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA); and (j) United States Mint. Note to § 3101.102: As a result of the designations contained in this section, employees of the remaining parts of the Department of the Treasury (e.g., employees in Departmental Offices) will also be treated as employees of an agency that is separate from all of the above listed bureaus and offices for purposes of determining whether the donor of a gift is a prohibited source under 5 CFR 2635.203(d) and for identifying an employee's “agency” under 5 CFR 2635.807 governing teaching, speaking and writing. For purposes of this section, employees in the Legal Division shall be considered to be part of the bureaus or offices in which they serve. [79 FR 65877, Nov. 6, 2014] § 3101.103 Prohibition on purchase of certain assets. (a) General prohibition. (1) Owned by the Government and under the control of the employee's bureau (or a bureau over which the employee exercises supervision); or (2) Sold under the direction or incident to the functions of the employee's bureau. (b) Exceptions. (c) Waiver. Note: Employees of the OCC are subject to additional limitations on the purchase of assets that are set out in the OCC-specific rules contained in § 3101.108. [60 FR 22251, May 5, 1995, as amended at 80 FR 7797, Feb. 12, 2015] § 3101.104 Outside employment. (a) General requirement for prior approval. Note: Employees of the IRS, Legal Division, and OCC are subject to additional limitations on outside employment and activities that are set out in bureau-specific rules contained in this part. (b) Bureau responsibilities. [60 FR 22251, May 5, 1995, as amended at 80 FR 7797, Feb. 12, 2015] § 3101.105 Additional rules for Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau employees. The following rules apply to the employees of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and are in addition to §§ 3101.101 through 3101.104. (a) Prohibited financial interests. (b) Waiver. [79 FR 65877, Nov. 6, 2014] § 3101.106 Additional rules for Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration employees. The following rules apply to the employees of the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and are in addition to §§ 3101.101 through 3101.104. (a) Prohibited recommendations. (b) Prohibited outside employment. (1) Performance of legal services involving Federal, State or local tax matters; (2) Appearing on behalf of any taxpayer as a representative before any Federal, State, or local government agency, in an action involving a tax matter except on written authorization of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; (3) Engaging in accounting, or the use, analysis, and interpretation of financial records when such activity involves tax matters; (4) Engaging in bookkeeping, the recording of transactions, or the record-making phase of accounting, when such activity is directly related to a tax determination; and (5) Engaging in the preparation of tax returns for compensation, gift, or favor. (c) Seasonal employees. [79 FR 65877, Nov. 6, 2014] § 3101.107 Additional rules for Legal Division employees. The following rules apply to the employees of the Legal Division and are in addition to §§ 3101.101 through 3101.104: (a) Application of rules of other bureaus. (b) Prohibited outside employment. (1) Take a position that is or appears to be in conflict with the interests of the Department of the Treasury which is the client to whom the attorney owes a professional responsibility; or (2) Interpret any statute, regulation or rule administered or issued by the Department. § 3101.108 Additional rules for Office of the Comptroller of the Currency employees. The following rules apply to the employees of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and are in addition to §§ 3101.101-3101.104: (a) Prohibited financial interests (1) Prohibition. (2) Definition of “securities”. (3) Exceptions. (i) Owning an interest in a publicly traded or publicly available mutual fund, other collective investment fund or pooled investment product, or a widely-held pension or other similar fund if the fund does not have a stated policy of concentration in the financial services industry and neither the employee nor the employee's spouse exercises or has the ability to exercise control over the financial interests held by the fund or the selection of fund holdings; (ii) Owning securities in a publicly traded company owning banks or savings associations if— (A) By virtue of the limited activities of the banks or savings associations, the ownership of banks or savings associations does not cause their parent holding company to become a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 U.S.C. 1841 (B) For savings and loan holding companies, the ownership or operation of savings associations is not a significant activity (generally less than 15% of the assets) of the holding company; (C) The company is identified as meeting the requirements of (A) or (B) above on a list maintained by the OCC Ethics Counsel; and (D) The employee owning or seeking to purchase the securities does not participate in the regulation or supervision of any bank or savings association owned or operated by the company; (iii) Owning the securities of a foreign bank that does not own a commercial bank or savings association in the United States provided that the employee owning the securities does not participate in the regulation or supervision of any Federal branch or agency operated by the foreign bank; (iv) Using a commercial bank, a savings association or an affiliate of a commercial bank or savings association as custodian or trustee of accounts containing tax-deferred retirement funds; or (v) Owning any security pursuant to a waiver granted under paragraph (g) of this section. (b) Prohibited borrowing (1) Prohibition on employee borrowing. Except as provided in this section, no covered OCC employee shall seek or obtain credit from any national bank or Federal savings association or from any officer, director, employee or subsidiary of a national bank or Federal savings association. (2) Prohibition on borrowing by a spouse or minor child. (i) Is supported only by the income or independent means of the spouse or minor child; (ii) Is obtained on terms and conditions no more favorable than those offered to the general public; and (iii) The covered OCC employee does not participate in the negotiation for the loan or serve as co-maker, endorser, or guarantor of the loan. (3) Covered OCC employee. (i) An OCC examiner; and (ii) Any other OCC employee specified in an OCC instruction or manual issuance whose duties and responsibilities, as determined by the Comptroller of the Currency or his or her designee, require application of the prohibition on borrowing contained in this section to ensure public confidence that the OCC's programs are conducted impartially and objectively. (4) Exceptions Credit cards. (A) The applicant satisfies all financial requirements set by the lender that are generally applicable to all applicants for the same type of credit card account; (B) The terms and conditions applicable with respect to the credit card account and any credit extended under the account are no more favorable generally to the applicant than the terms and conditions that are generally applicable to credit card accounts offered by the same lender to other cardholders in comparable circumstances; (C) An employee who holds a credit card (or whose spouse or minor child holds a credit card) must submit a written recusal notice to his or her supervisor and ethics official if the cardholder becomes involved in an adversarial dispute with the issuer of the credit card account. A cardholder is involved in an adversarial dispute if he or she is delinquent in payments on the credit card account; the issuer and the cardholder are negotiating to restructure the credit card debt; the cardholder disputes the terms and conditions of the account; or the cardholder becomes involved in any disagreement with the issuer that may cast doubt on the employee's ability to remain impartial with respect to the issuer. (ii) Loans secured by principal residence. (A) The loan is secured by residential real property that is the applicant's principal residence; (B) The applicant must satisfy all financial requirements set by the lender for the residential real property loan that are generally applicable to borrowers for the same type of residential real property loan; and (C) The terms and conditions applicable with respect to the residential real property loan and any credit extended under the loan must be no more favorable generally to the applicant than the terms and conditions that are generally applicable to residential real property loans offered by the same lender to other borrowers in comparable circumstances. (iii) A covered employee who seeks or obtains a real property loan from a national bank, Federal savings association or a subsidiary of a national bank or Federal savings association or whose spouse or minor child obtains a real property loan under the requirements of paragraph (b)(4)(ii) above must observe from the time of the initial application any recusal established under OCC ethics policy. (5) Pre-existing credit. (A) Was incurred prior to employment by the OCC; (B) Was obtained from a lender that was not supervised by the OCC at the time it was obtained; or (C) Is held by a national bank or Federal savings association or subsidiary thereof as the result of the sale or transfer of a loan to the national bank or Federal savings association or the conversion or merger of the lender into a national bank or Federal savings association. (ii) Any renewal or renegotiation of a pre-existing loan or extension of credit will be treated as a new loan subject to the prohibitions in paragraph (b)(1) of this section. (c) Restrictions arising from third party relationships. (1) Partnership in which the employee, or spouse or minor child of the employee, is a general partner; (2) Partnership in which the employee, or spouse or minor child of the employee, individually or jointly holds more than a 10 percent limited partnership interest; (3) Closely held corporation in which the employee, or spouse or minor child of the employee, individually or jointly holds more than a 10 percent equity interest; (4) Trust in which the employee, or spouse or minor child of the employee, has a legal or beneficial interest; (5) Investment club or similar informal investment arrangement between the employee, or spouse or minor child of the employee, and others; (6) Qualified profit sharing, retirement or similar plan in which the employee, or spouse or minor child of the employee, has an interest; or (7) Other entity if the employee, or spouse or minor child of the employee, individually or jointly holds more than a 25 percent equity interest. (d) Prohibited recommendations. (e) Prohibited purchase of assets. i.e. (f) Outside employment Prohibition on outside employment. (2) Covered OCC employee. (i) An OCC examiner; and (ii) Any other OCC employee specified in an OCC instruction or manual issuance whose duties and responsibilities, as determined by the Comptroller of the Currency or his or her designee, require application of the prohibition on outside employment contained in this section to ensure public confidence that the OCC's programs are conducted impartially and objectively. (g) Waivers. [60 FR 22251, May 5, 1995, as amended at 67 FR 46841, July 17, 2002; 79 FR 65878, Nov. 6, 2014]