monetary value may be accepted by the employee when it or they stem from a family or personal relationship, such as those between the employee and his parents, children, or spouse, and when the circumstances make it clear that it is those relationships rather than the business of the persons concerned which are the motivating factors.

(b) Food and refreshments of nominal value may be accepted on infrequent occasions in the ordinary course of a luncheon or dinner meeting or other meeting or on an inspection tour where the employee may properly be in attend

ance.

(c) Loans from banks and other financial institutions may be accepted on customary terms to finance the proper and usual activities of employees, such as home mortgage loans.

(d) Unsolicited advertising or promotional material, such as pens, pencils, note pads, calendars, and other items of nominal intrinsic value may be accepted. § 6.14 Gifts to superiors.

An employee shall not solicit a contribution from another employee for a gift to an official superior, make a donation as a gift to an official superior or accept a gift presented as a contribution from an employee receiving less pay than himself (5 U.S.C. 7351).

§ 6.16

Reimbursement of travel and living expenses.

Neither § 6.12 nor § 6.27 precludes an employee from receipt of bona fide reimbursement, unless prohibited by law, for expenses of travel and such other necessary subsistence as is compatible with this part when not engaged on official business. However, this section does not allow an employee to be reimbursed, or payment to be made on his behalf, for excessive personal living expenses, gifts, entertainment, or other personal benefits. When traveling on official business, no reimbursement may be accepted from private sources.

NOTE: Notwithstanding this section, the requirements relating to the acceptance of contributions and awards, travel, subsistence,

and other expenses in section 4111(a), ti 5, United States Code, and the regulatio thereunder in Subpart G, Part 410, Book I Supplement 990-1, Federal Personnel Ma ual, continue to apply.

§ 6.17

Indebtedness of employees.

An employee shall pay each just fina cial obligation in a proper and time manner, especially one imposed by la such as Federal, State, or local taxe For the purposes of this paragraph, "just financial obligation" means o acknowledged by the employee or r duced to judgment by a court, and a proper and timely manner” means a manner which the General Accounti Office determines does not, in the ci cumstances, reflect adversely on the O fice as his employer. In the event of dispute between an employee and a alleged creditor, this paragraph does n require the General Accounting Office determine the validity of the dispute debt.

§ 6.18 Reports on indebtedness.

While the General Accounting Offic will not become a collection agency fo private creditors of an employee, ead complaint of nonpayment of a debt wi be referred to the employee concerne and the employee will be requested report in writing as to what he propose to do about the debt.

§ 6.20

Use of Government property.

An employee shall not directly or in directly use, or allow the use of, Govern ment property of any kind, including property leased to the Government, fo other than officially approved activities An employee has a positive duty to pro tect and conserve Government propert including equipment, supplies, and othe property entrusted or issued to him. § 6.21

Misuse of information.

For the purpose of furthering a pr vate interest, an employee shall not except as provided in § 6.27(b), direct or indirectly use, or allow the use o

fficial information obtained through or 1 connection with his Government emloyment which has not been made vailable to the general public. 6.22 Prohibited financial interests. An employee shall not:

(a) Have a direct or indirect financial nterest that conflicts substantially, or ppears to conflict substantially, with is Government duties and responibilities.

(b) Engage in, directly or indirectly, financial transaction as a result of, r primarily relying on, information btained through his Government mployment.

6.23 Bribery, graft, and conflicts of interest.

An employee shall not engage in acts rohibited by chapter 11 of title 18, Inited States Code, relating to bribery, raft, and conflicts of interest as approriate to the employee concerned. Three f the more important "conflict of inerest" provisions are summarized as ollows:

(a) An employee may not, except as rovided by law for the proper discharge f his official duties, ask or seek any ompensation for services by him or nother in connection with any proeeding, request for a ruling or other etermination before any Government gency or officer in which the United tates is a party or has a direct and ubstantial interest (18 U.S.C. 203).

(b) An employee may not, except in ne discharge of his official duties, repreent anyone else (with or without comensation) before a court or Government. gency in a matter in which the United tates is a party or has a direct or subtantial interest (18 U.S.C. 205).

(c) An employee shall not receive any alary or anything of monetary value rom a private source as compensation or his services to the Government (18 .S.C. 209).

33 F.R. 2369, Jan. 1, 1968, as amended at 34 R. 19965, Dec. 20, 1969]

6.24 Conflicts resulting from assign

ments.

An employee will not participate in any udit, investigation, survey, examinaion, ruling, decision or determination, ontract, claim, controversy, or other hatter before the General Accounting office in which he, his spouse, minor hild, partner, organization in which

he is serving as officer, director, trustee, partner or employee, or any person or organizaiton with whom he is negotiating or has any arrangement concerning prospective employment, has a financial interest with the following exceptions:

(a) The employee need not disqualify himself if his financial holdings are in shares of widely held diversified mutual funds or regulated investment companies in which he does not serve as director, officer, partner, or advisor. The indirect interest in business entities which the holder of shares in a widely diversified mutual fund or regulated investment company derives from ownership by the fund or investment company of stocks in business entities is hereby exempted from the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 208(a) in accordance with the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 208(b) (2) as being too remote or inconsequential to affect the integrity of the employee's services.

(b) If the employee first informs the Comptroller General through his head of division or office, in writing, of the nature and circumstances of the audit, investigation, survey, examination, ruling, decision or determination, contract, claim, controversy, or other matter in which he is participating and makes full disclosure of the financial interest and receives in advance a written determination made by the Comptroller General that the interest is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the employee's services, the employee need not consider himself disqualified (18 U.S.C. 208(b)). § 6.25

Disqualification procedure.

Where the employee, his spouse, minor child, partner, organization in which he is serving as officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee, or any person with whom he is negotiating or has an arrangement concerning prospective employment, has a financial interest in any matter in which he is participating as part of his official duties, he will so inform the Comptroller General through his head of division or office in writing, and he will thereupon be relieved of his duties and responsibilities in that particular matter unless the head of division or office, after consultation with and approval of the Comptroller General, finds that pursuant to § 6.24(b) of this part, the interest is too remote or too inconsequential to affect the integrity of the employee's services in which case the Comptroller General will notify the

employee in writing. In cases of disqualification of the employee, the assignment of the employee will be changed or the matter will be reassigned to another employee. A memorandum of disqualification will be made and forwarded by the Comptroller General to the employee with copies to the head of the division or office concerned, the Director of Personnel, and the Counselor for the General Accounting Office.

§ 6.26

Nondisqualifying interests.

This subpart does not preclude an employee from having a financial interest or engaging in financial transactions to the same extent as a private citizen not employed by the Government so long as it is not prohibited by applicable law or regulations.

§ 6.27 Outside employment and other activity.

(a) An employee shall not engage in outside employment or other outside activity not compatible with the full and proper discharge of the duties and responsibilities of his Government employment. Incompatible activities include but are not limited to:

(1) Acceptance of a fee, compensation, gift, payment of expense, or any other thing of monetary value in circumstances in which acceptance may result in, or create the appearance of, a conflict of interest; or

(2) Outside employment which tends to impair his mental or physical capacity to perform his Government duties and responsibilities in an acceptable manner.

(b) Employees may (subject to the provisions of paragraph (c)(3) of this section) engage in teaching, lecturing, and writing that is not prohibited by law or the regulations in this part. An employee shall not, however, either for or without compensation, engage in teaching, lecturing, or writing, including teaching, lecturing, or writing for the purpose of the special preparation of a person or class of persons for an examination of the Civil Service Commission or Board of Examiners for the foreign service, that depends on information obtained as a result of his Government employment, except when that information has been made available to the general public or will be made available on request, or when the Comptroller General gives written authorization for the use of nonpublic information on the basis that such use is in the public interest. In

addition, the Comptroller General s not receive compensation or anythin monetary value for any consultat lecture, discussion, writing, or app ance, the subject matter of which devoted substantially to the responsil ties, programs, or operations, of the G eral Accounting Office, or which dr substantially on official data or ic which have not become part of the b of public information.

(c) This paragraph does not precl an employee from:

(1) Participation in the activities national or State political parties precluded by law.

(2) Participation in the affairs of acceptance of an award for a meritori public contribution or achievement gi by a charitable, religious, professio social, fraternal, nonprofit, educatio and recreational, public service, or c organization.

(3) Outside employment when I mission has been granted in advance the Director, Office of Personnel M agement, or his designee, and the € ployee has been notified in writing the approval. This permission will granted in accordance with the foll ing policies, procedures, and limitatio

(i) In considering requests for outs employment, the following criteria be applied--the provisions of applica law; the regulations and policies inc porated in this part including the p sibility of conflicts of interest; the g eral attendance record of the employ the nature of his official duties in re tion to the nature of the duties wh will comprise the outside employme the financial need or other justificat for such outside employment; and amount of time and hours of work quired by the outside employment.

(ii) An employee will request perm sion to engage in outside employment executing, in full, Form GAO 256 (R 10/67) and forwarding it through immediate supervisor to the head of division or office.

(iii) The head of division or office ▾ upon receipt of a fully executed Fo GAO 256 (Rev. 10/67) evaluate the quest in light of existing law, and po cies and regulations provided by tl part. Should the request be found prop and in the best interests of the Off and not in violation of law, regulation and policies, the head of the division office will transmit the request with ! favorable recommendation to the Dire

tor, Office of Personnel Management. If the head of division or office finds otherwise, he will recommend that the request be denied, record his reasons, and transmit the request and related papers to the Director, Office of Personnel Management.

(iv) The Director, Office of Personnel Management, or his designee, will review requests to engage in outside employment including the recommendation of the head of division or office for proper, fair, and uniform application of this part. If the head of division or office and the Director, Office of Personnel Management, or his designee, agree, the request may be officially approved or disapproved and the employee will be notified. If they do not agree, the request and all recommendations will be submitted to the Comptroller General for ultimate determination. The Comptroller General will thereupon consider the entire record, make the final determination, and cause the employee to be notified.

(v) Grants of permission to engage in outside employment will normally exIpire 3 calendar years from the date of last issue, unless sooner revoked or modified. Permission to engage in outside employment, which is about to expire, wil be considered for renewal upon receipt of a request on Form GAO 256 (Rev. 10/67). Procedures for renewal will be the same as those for original application and should be made, if continuity I of permission is desired, from 30 to 60 I days before the expiration of current - permission.

(vi) Permission to engage in outside = employment extends only to the specific employment described in the request conEsidered. New requests must be made in 5 writing in accordance with these pro=cedures to cover any changes or modifiE cations in outside employment.

(vii) An employee with permission to E engage in outside employment will not hold himself out to the public as an attorney or accountant by such means as: Placing his name on an office door; having his name listed in the classified section of the telephone directory; or using business stationery with his name on letterheads or envelopes.

(viii) Permission to engage in outside employment will not be granted for the purpose of representing clients in court or before Government agencies except in rare cases when permission may be granted for specific appearances.

50-004-71-3

(ix) An employee may be permitted to engage in income tax work and to sign income tax returns as a preparer provided: The taxpayer has no Government contracts and has no business with the U.S. Government; the employee does not in any manner intercede with or appear for the taxpayer before the Internal Revenue Service, the courts, or other Government body; the employee is not engaged in the audit of the Internal Revenue Service by the General Accounting Office.

(x) An employee may not use his employment with the General Accounting Office as a means of soliciting or obtaining outside employment.

(xi) An employee may not engage in outside employment while he is on sick leave from his duties. Deviations from this policy may be permitted in rare instances when prior approval is obtained from the Director, Office of Personnel Management, upon favorable recommendation from the head of division or office involved.

(xii) Employees in grades GS-13 and higher will not, normally, be given permission to engage in outside employment. Exceptions will be made for good and sufficient reasons, such as where a critical need exists for additional income by the employee or where the employment is found to be in the public interest in terms of opportunity for valuable experience beneficial both to the employee and to the General Accounting Office. Each request for an exception under this paragraph shall be in sufficient detail to permit a judgment that it is merited. If an exception is made for employees in grade GS-13 and higher, permission will be granted for 1-year intervals. [34 F.R. 19965, Dec. 20, 1969]

§ 6.28 Articles and speeches.

Employees who prepare, with or without compensation, articles for publication and speeches for delivery shall submit drafts thereof to their respective heads of division or office prior to publication or delivery when:

(a) Any reference is made or to be made to the employee's employment by the General Accounting Office.

(b) The subject of the article or speech concerns the work of the General Accounting Office.

[34 F.R. 19966, Dec. 20, 1969]

Each employee will acquaint himself with each statute that relates to his ethical and other conduct as an employee of the General Accounting Office with particular reference to the following:

(a) House Concurrent Resolution 175, 85th Congress, 2d session, 72 Stat. Part II, B12, the "Code of Ethics for Government Service."

(b) Chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, relating to bribery, graft, and conflicts of interest, as appropriate to the employees concerned.

(c) The prohibition against lobbying with appropriated funds (18 U.S.C. 1913).

(d) The prohibitions against disloyalty and striking (5 U.S.C. 7311, 18 U.S.C. 1918).

(e) The prohibition against the employment of a member of a Communist organization (50 U.S.C. 784).

(f) The prohibitions against (1) the disclosure of classified information (18 U.S.C. 798, 50 U.S.C. 783); and (2) the disclosure of confidential information (18 U.S.C. 1905).

(g) The provision relating to the habitual use of intoxicants to excess (5 U.S.C. 7352).

(h) The prohibition against the misuse of Government vehicle (31 U.S.C. 638a (c)).

(i) The prohibition against the misuse of the franking privilege (18 U.S.C. 1719).

(j) The prohibition against interfe ence with civil service examinations (1 U.S.C. 1917).

(k) The prohibition against fraud false statement in a Government matte (18 U.S.C. 1001).

(1) The prohibition against mutilat ing or destroying a public record (1 U.S.C. 2071).

(m) The prohibition against counter feiting and forging transportation re quests (18 U.S.C. 508).

(n) The prohibitions against (1) em bezzlement of Government money o property (18 U.S.C. 641); (2) failing t account for the public money (18 U.S. 643); and (3) embezzlement of th money or property of another person i the possession of an employee by reaso of his employment (18 U.S.C. 654).

(0) The prohibition against unauthor ized use of documents relating to claim from or by the Government (18 U.S.C 285).

(p) The prohibition against proscribed political activities-in subchapter III of chapter 73 of title 5, United States Code and 18 U.S.C. 602, 603, 607, and 608.

(q) The prohibtion against an employee acting as the agent of a foreign principal registerd under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (18 U.S.C. 219) Subpart C-Regulations Governing

Ethical and Other Conduct and Responsibilities of Special Government Employees

§ 6.32 Use of Government employment. A special Government employee shall not use his Government employment for a purpose that is, or gives the appearance of being, motivated by the desire for private gain for himself or another person, particularly one with whom he has family, business, or financial ties. § 6.33

Use of inside information.

A special Government employee sha not use inside information obtained as a result of his Government employment for private gain for himself or anothe person either by direct action on his part or by counsel, recommendation, or sug gestion to another person, particularly one with whom he has family, business or financial ties. For the purposes of this paragraph, "inside information" means information obtained by reason of his Government employment which has not become part of the body of public information.