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), title 5, United States Code, and the regulations thereunder in Subpart G, Part 410, Book III, Supplement 990-1, Federal Personnel Manual, continue to apply.

§ 6.17

Indebtedness of employees.

An employee shall pay each just financial obligation in a proper and timely manner, especially one imposed by law such as Federal, State, or local taxes. For the purposes of this paragraph, a "just financial obligation" means one acknowledged by the employee or reduced to judgment by a court, and "in a proper and timely manner" means in a manner which the General Accounting Office determines does not, in the circumstances, reflect adversely on the Office as his employer. In the event of a dispute between an employee and an alleged creditor, this paragraph does not require the General Accounting Office to determine the validity of the disputed debt.

§ 6.18 Reports on indebtedness.

While the General Accounting Office will not become a collection agency for private creditors of an employee, each complaint of nonpayment of a debt will be referred to the employee concerned and the employee will be requested to report in writing as to what he proposes to do about the debt.

§ 6.19

Gambling, betting, and lotteries. An employee shall not participate, while on Government-owned or leased property or while on duty for the Government, in any gambling activity including the operation of a gambling device, in conducting a lottery or pool, in a game for money or property, or in selling or purchasing a numbers slip or ticket.

§ 6.20 Use of Government property.

An employee shall not directly or indirectly use, or allow the use of, Government property of any kind, including property leased to the Government, for other than officially approved activities. An employee has a positive duty to protect and conserve Government property, including equipment, supplies, and other property entrusted or issued to him.

official information obtained through or in connection with his Government employment which has not been made available to the general public.

§ 6.22 Prohibited financial interests. An employee shall not:

(a) Have a direct or indirect financial interest that conflicts substantially, or appears to conflict substantially, with his Government duties and responsibilities.

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

§ 6.23 Bribery, graft, and conflicts of interest.

An employee shall not engage in acts prohibited by chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, relating to bribery, graft, and conflicts of interest as appropriate to the employee concerned. Three of the more important "conflict of interest" provisions are summarized as follows:

(a) An employee may not, except as provided by law for the proper discharge of his official duties, ask or seek any compensation for services by him or another in connection with any proceeding, request for a ruling or other determination before any Government agency or officer in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest (18 U.S.C. 203).

(b) An employee may not, except in the discharge of his official duties, represent anyone else (with or without compensation) before a court or Government agency in a matter in which the United States is a party or has a direct or substantial interest (18 U.S.C. 205).

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

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

§ 6.24 Conflicts resulting from assign

ments.

An employee will not participate in any audit, investigation, survey, examination, ruling, decision or determination, contract, claim, controversy, or other matter before the General Accounting Office in which he, his spouse, minor child, 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 shall not receive compensation or anything of monetary value for any consultation, lecture, discussion, writing, or appearance, the subject matter of which is devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs, or operations, of the General Accounting Office, or which draws substantially on official data or ideas which have not become part of the body of public information.

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

(1) Participation in the activities of national or State political parties not precluded by law.

(2) Participation in the affairs of or acceptance of an award for a meritorious public contribution or achievement given by a charitable, religious, professional, social, fraternal, nonprofit, educational and recreational, public service, or civic organization.

(3) Outside employment when permission has been granted in advance by the Director, Office of Personnel Management, or his designee, and the employee has been notified in writing of the approval. This permission will be granted in accordance with the following policies, procedures, and limitations:

(i) In considering requests for outside employment, the following criteria will be applied the provisions of applicable law; the regulations and policies incorporated in this part including the possibility of conflicts of interest; the general attendance record of the employee; the nature of his official duties in relation to the nature of the duties which will comprise the outside employment; the financial need or other justification for such outside employment; and the amount of time and hours of work required by the outside employment.

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

(iii) The head of division or office will upon receipt of a fully executed Form GAO 256 (Rev. 10/67) evaluate the request in light of existing law, and policies and regulations provided by this part. Should the request be found proper and in the best interests of the Office and not in violation of law, regulations, and policies, the head of the division or office will transmit the request with his favorable recommendation to the Direc

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 expire 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 of permission is desired, from 30 to 60 days before the expiration of current permission.

(vi) Permission to engage in outside employment extends only to the specific employment described in the request considered. New requests must be made in writing in accordance with these procedures to cover any changes or modifications in outside employment.

(vii) An employee with permission to 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.

36-005-70- -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 interference with civil service examinations (18 U.S.C. 1917).

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

(1) The prohibition against mutilating or destroying a public record (18 U.S.C. 2071).

(m) The prohibition against counterfeiting and forging transportation requests (18 U.S.C. 508).

(n) The prohibitions against (1) embezzlement of Government money or property (18 U.S.C. 641); (2) failing to account for the public money (18 U.S.C. 643); and (3) embezzlement of the money or property of another person in the possession of an employee by reason of his employment (18 U.S.C. 654).

(0) The prohibition against unauthorized use of documents relating to claims 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 shall not use inside information obtained as a result of his Government employment for private gain for himself or another person either by direct action on his part or by counsel, recommendation, or suggestion 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.