PART 3201—SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION Authority: 5 U.S.C. 7301; 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government Act of 1978); 12 U.S.C. 1819(a), 1822; 18 U.S.C. 212, 213; 26 U.S.C. 1043; 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, 2635.403, 2635.502, 2635.803. Source: 60 FR 20174, Apr. 25, 1995, unless otherwise noted. § 3201.101 General. (a) Purpose. (b) Corporation ethics officials. (1) The Ethics Counselor or Alternate Ethics Counselor may delegate authority to one or more employees to serve as Deputy Ethics Counselors. (2) The delegation to a Deputy Ethics Counselor shall be in writing and cannot be redelegated. (c) Agency designees. (d) Definitions. (1) Affiliate (2) Appropriate director (3) Covered employee (i) Members of the FDIC Board of Directors and any employee required to file a public or confidential financial disclosure under 5 CFR part 2634 who holds a position immediately subordinate to such Board member; (ii) The director of any Washington division or office and the director of any regional office, and any employee required to file a public or confidential financial disclosure report under 5 CFR part 2634 who holds a position immediately subordinate to such director; (iii) An FDIC examiner; (iv) Any other FDIC employee whose duties and responsibilities include the examination of or the participation in the examination of any financial institution; (v) Any other FDIC employee whose duties and responsibilities, as determined by the Chairman or Ethics Counselor after notice to the employee, require application of the prohibition on borrowing contained in § 3201.102 to ensure public confidence that the FDIC's programs are conducted impartially and objectively. (4) Employee (5) Ethics Counselor (6) Security (7) State nonmember bank (8) Subsidiary [60 FR 20174, Apr. 25, 1995, as amended at 67 FR 71070, Nov. 29, 2002; 72 FR 19378, Apr. 18, 2007] § 3201.102 Extensions of credit and loans from FDIC-insured institutions. (a) Credit subject to this section. (b) Disqualification applicable to FDIC employees generally. (1) No FDIC employee may participate in an examination, audit, visitation, review, or investigation, or any other particular matter involving an FDIC-insured institution, subsidiary or other person with whom the employee has an outstanding extension of credit. (2) For employees, other than covered employees as defined in § 3201.101(d)(3), disqualification is not required if the credit was extended through the use of a credit card on the same terms and conditions as are offered to the general public. (3) The Comptroller of the Currency and the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision shall be disqualified from any matter pending before the FDIC Board of Directors to the same extent as an FDIC employee subject to paragraph (c) of this section. (c) Prohibited borrowing by covered employees Prohibition on covered employee borrowing. (2) Exceptions: Credit cards. (A) The cardholder must satisfy all financial requirements for the credit card account that are generally applicable to all applicants for the same type of credit card account; and (B) The terms and conditions applicable with respect to the account and any credit extended to the cardholder under the account are no more favorable generally to the cardholder than the terms and conditions that are generally applicable to credit card accounts offered by the same bank (or the same subsidiary) to other cardholders in comparable circumstances under open end consumer credit plans. (ii) Loans secured primarily by principal residence. (A) The loan is secured by residential real property that is the principal residence of the borrower. The borrower may retain the loan if the residential real property ceases to be the principal residence. However, any subsequent renewal or renegotiation of the original terms of such a loan must meet the requirements of this paragraph; (B) The borrower may not apply for the loan while the covered employee participates in any examination, the review of any application, or any other supervisory or regulatory or other particular matter directly affecting the State nonmember bank or its subsidiaries; (C) The borrower must satisfy all financial requirements for the loan that are generally applicable to all applicants for the same type of residential real property loan; and (D) The terms and conditions applicable with respect to the loan and any credit extended to the borrower under the loan are no more favorable generally to the borrower than the terms and conditions that are generally applicable to residential real property loans offered by the same State nonmember bank or the same subsidiary to other borrowers in comparable circumstances for residential real property loans. (3) Disqualification of covered employees. (i) Payment dispute, delinquency, or other significant matter concerning credit card debt. (ii) Primary residence mortgage loan. (4) Other limitations on covered employees. (ii) Covered employees to whom the prohibitions in this section apply may not apply for a credit card or primary residence mortgage loan from a State nonmember bank or subsidiary that the covered employee is assigned to examine or participate in a matter involving that institution, or if such an assignment is imminent. (5) Pre-existing credit. (ii) A covered employee may request that an exception be made to the prohibitions to permit renegotiation of a pre-existing loan or extension of credit. If a covered employee would experience financial or other hardship unless allowed to renegotiate a pre-existing loan or extension of credit, the covered employee may submit a written request to his or her supervisor and to the Ethics Counselor, describing the reasons for renegotiation, the original and the proposed terms and conditions, including whether the financial institution makes such terms generally available to the public, and any attempts by the covered employee to move the loan to a non-prohibited source. After consideration of the request, the covered employee's supervisor and the Ethics Counselor jointly may grant the waiver upon a finding that renegotiation is not prohibited by law, and that the waiver does not result in a loss of impartiality or objectivity or in misuse of the employee's position. To be effective, the waiver must be in writing. (d) Two-year prohibition on acceptance of credit from an FDIC-insured depository institution. (e) Waiver. [72 FR 19378, Apr. 18, 2007] § 3201.103 Prohibition on acquisition, ownership, or control of securities of FDIC-insured depository institutions and certain holding companies. (a) Prohibition on acquisition, ownership, or control. (1) A bank or savings association that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); (2) A bank holding company that is subject to supervision by the Federal Reserve Board (FRB); (3) A savings and loan holding company that is subject to supervision by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS); (4) A financial holding company that is subject to FRB supervision; or (5) A company that: (i) Owns or controls an FDIC-insured bank or savings association; (ii) Is neither an FRB-supervised bank holding company, an OTS-supervised savings and loan holding company, nor an FRB-supervised financial holding company; and (iii) Is either primarily engaged in banking or not publicly traded on a U.S. securities exchange. (b) Exceptions. (1) Acquire, own, or control the securities of a unitary thrift holding company ( i.e. (2) Own or control a security of an entity described in paragraph (a) of this section if the security was permitted to be retained by the employee under 12 CFR part 336 prior to May 25, 1995, was obtained prior to commencement of employment with the Corporation, or was acquired by a spouse prior to marriage to the employee; (3) Own, or control a security of an entity described in paragraph (a) of this section if: (i) The security was acquired by inheritance, gift, stock-split, involuntary stock dividend, merger, acquisition, or other change in corporate ownership, exercise of preemptive right, or otherwise without specific intent to acquire the security, or, by an employee's spouse or minor child as part of a compensation package in connection with his or her employment; (ii) The employee makes full, written disclosure on FDIC form 2410/07 to the Ethics Counselor within 30 days of the commencement of employment or the acquisition of the interest; and (iii) The employee is disqualified in accordance with 5 CFR part 2635, subpart D, from participating in any particular matter that affects his or her financial interests, or that of his or her spouse or minor child; (4) Acquire, own, or control an interest in a publicly traded or publicly available investment fund provided that, upon initial or subsequent investment by the employee (excluding ordinary dividend reinvestment), the fund does not have invested, or indicate in its prospectus the intent to invest, more than 30 percent of its assets in the securities of one or more entities described in paragraph (a) of this section and the employee neither exercises control nor has the ability to exercise control over the financial interests held in the fund; and (5) Use an FDIC-insured depository institution or an affiliate of an FDIC-insured depository institution as custodian or trustee of accounts containing tax-deferred retirement funds. (c) Divestiture. (d) Waiver. [72 FR 19380, Apr. 18, 2007] § 3201.104 Restrictions concerning the purchase of property held by the Corporation or the RTC as conservator, receiver, or liquidator of the assets of an insured depository institution, or by a bridge bank organized by the Corporation. (a) Prohibition on purchase of property. (b) Disqualification. § 3201.105 Prohibition on dealings with former employers, associates, and clients. (a) An employee is prohibited for one year from the date of entry on duty with the Corporation from participating in a particular matter when an employer, or the successor to the employer, for whom the employee worked at any time during the one year preceding the employee's entrance on duty is a party or represents a party to the matter. (b) For purposes of this section, the term employer (c) The one-year prohibition imposed by paragraph (a) of this section, and the one-year period preceding the employee's entrance on duty specified in paragraph (a) of this section, may each be extended in an individual case based on a written determination by the agency designee that, under the particular circumstances, the employee's participation in the particular matter would cause a reasonable person with knowledge of the facts to question his or her impartiality. § 3201.106 Employment of family members outside the Corporation. (a) Disqualification of employees. (b) Reporting certain relationships. (1) An FDIC-insured depository institution or its affiliate; (2) A firm or business with which, to the employee's knowledge, the Corporation has a contractual or other business or financial relationship; or (3) A firm or business which, to the employee's knowledge, is seeking a business or contractual relationship with the Corporation. § 3201.107 Outside employment and other activities. (a) Prohibition on employment with FDIC-insured depository institutions. (b) Use of professional licenses. (c) Responsibility to consult with agency designee. § 3201.108 Related statutory and regulatory authorities. (a) 18 U.S.C. 213, which prohibits an examiner from accepting a loan or gratuity from an FDIC-insured depository institution examined by him or her or from any person connected with such institution. (b) 18 U.S.C. 1906, which prohibits disclosure of information from a bank examination report except as authorized by law. (c) 17 CFR 240.10b-5 which prohibits the use of manipulative or deceptive devices in connection with the purchase or sale of any security. (d) 18 U.S.C. 1909, which prohibits examiners from providing any service for compensation for any bank or person connected therewith. § 3201.109 Provisions of 5 CFR part 2635 not applicable to Corporation employees. The following provisions of 5 CFR part 2635 are not applicable to employees of the Corporation: (a) Because of the restrictions imposed by 18 U.S.C. 213 on examiners accepting loans or gratuities, an examiner in the Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection may not use any of the gift exceptions at 5 CFR 2635.204 to accept a gift from an FDIC-insured depository institution examined by him or her or from any person connected with such institution. (b) Provisions of 41 U.S.C. 423 (Procurement integrity) and the implementing regulations at 48 CFR 3.104 (of the Federal Acquisition Regulation) applicable to procurement officials referred to in: (1) 5 CFR 2635.202(c)(4)(iii); (2) The note following 5 CFR 2635.203(b)(7); (3) Example 5 following 5 CFR 2635.204(a); (4) Examples 2 and 3 following 5 CFR 2635.703(b)(3); (5) 5 CFR 2635.902(f), (h), (l), and (bb); (c) Provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1353 (Acceptance of travel and related expenses from non-Federal sources) and the implementing regulations at 41 CFR part 304-1 (Acceptance of payment from a non-Federal source for travel expenses) referred to in 5 CFR 2635.203(b)(8)(i). (d) Provisions of 41 CFR Chapter 101 (Federal Property Management Regulations) referred to in 5 CFR 2635.205(a)(4). (e) Provisions of 41 CFR Chapter 201 (Federal Information Resources Management Regulation) referred to in Example 1 following 5 CFR 2635.704(b)(2). [60 FR 20174, Apr. 25, 1995, as amended at 67 FR 71070, Nov. 29, 2002]