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Crimes and Criminal Procedure - 18 USC Section 208
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01/19/04
Sec. 208. Acts affecting a personal financial interest
(a) Except as permitted by subsection (b) hereof, whoever, being
an officer or employee of the executive branch of the United States
Government, or of any independent agency of the United States, a
Federal Reserve bank director, officer, or employee, or an officer
or employee of the District of Columbia, including a special
Government employee, participates personally and substantially as a
Government officer or employee, through decision, approval,
disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice,
investigation, or otherwise, in a judicial or other proceeding,
application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract,
claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, or other particular
matter in which, to his knowledge, he, his spouse, minor child,
general partner, organization in which he is serving as officer,
director, trustee, general partner or employee, or any person or
organization with whom he is negotiating or has any arrangement
concerning prospective employment, has a financial interest -
Shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 216 of
this title.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply -
(1) if the officer or employee first advises the Government
official responsible for appointment to his or her position of
the nature and circumstances of the judicial or other proceeding,
application, request for a ruling or other determination,
contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, or
other particular matter and makes full disclosure of the
financial interest and receives in advance a written
determination made by such official that the interest is not so
substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the
services which the Government may expect from such officer or
employee;
(2) if, by regulation issued by the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics, applicable to all or a portion of all officers
and employees covered by this section, and published in the
Federal Register, the financial interest has been exempted from
the requirements of subsection (a) as being too remote or too
inconsequential to affect the integrity of the services of the
Government officers or employees to which such regulation
applies;
(3) in the case of a special Government employee serving on an
advisory committee within the meaning of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (including an individual being considered for an
appointment to such a position), the official responsible for the
employee's appointment, after review of the financial disclosure
report filed by the individual pursuant to the Ethics in
Government Act of 1978, certifies in writing that the need for
the individual's services outweighs the potential for a conflict
of interest created by the financial interest involved; or
(4) if the financial interest that would be affected by the
particular matter involved is that resulting solely from the
interest of the officer or employee, or his or her spouse or
minor child, in birthrights -
(A) in an Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized
group or community, including any Alaska Native village
corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act, which is recognized as eligible
for the special programs and services provided by the United
States to Indians because of their status as Indians,
(B) in an Indian allotment the title to which is held in
trust by the United States or which is inalienable by the
allottee without the consent of the United States, or
(C) in an Indian claims fund held in trust or administered by
the United States,
if the particular matter does not involve the Indian allotment or
claims fund or the Indian tribe, band, nation, organized group or
community, or Alaska Native village corporation as a specific
party or parties.
(c)(1) For the purpose of paragraph (1) of subsection (b), in the
case of class A and B directors of Federal Reserve banks, the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be deemed to be
the Government official responsible for appointment.
(2) The potential availability of an exemption under any
particular paragraph of subsection (b) does not preclude an
exemption being granted pursuant to another paragraph of subsection
(b).
(d)(1) Upon request, a copy of any determination granting an
exemption under subsection (b)(1) or (b)(3) shall be made available
to the public by the agency granting the exemption pursuant to the
procedures set forth in section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act
of 1978. In making such determination available, the agency may
withhold from disclosure any information contained in the
determination that would be exempt from disclosure under section
552 of title 5. For purposes of determinations under subsection
(b)(3), the information describing each financial interest shall be
no more extensive than that required of the individual in his or
her financial disclosure report under the Ethics in Government Act
of 1978.
(2) The Office of Government Ethics, after consultation with the
Attorney General, shall issue uniform regulations for the issuance
of waivers and exemptions under subsection (b) which shall -
(A) list and describe exemptions; and
(B) provide guidance with respect to the types of interests
that are not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the
integrity of the services the Government may expect from the
employee.
AMENDMENTS
1994 - Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 330008(6), inserted
"if" after "(4)".
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 330002(b), substituted
"banks" for "Banks".
1990 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(e)(2), made technical
correction to directory language of Pub. L. 101-194, Sec.
405(1)(C). See 1989 Amendment note below.
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(e)(1)(A), substituted
"subsection (a)" for "paragraph (1)".
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(e)(1)(B), struck out
"section 107 of" after "individual pursuant to".
Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(e)(1)(C), amended par.
(1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: "A
copy of any determination by other than the Director of the Office
of Government Ethics granting an exemption pursuant to subsection
(b)(1) or (b)(3) shall be submitted to the Director, who shall make
all determinations available to the public pursuant to section 105
of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. For determinations
pursuant to subsection (b)(3), the information from the financial
disclosure report of the officer or employee involved describing
the asset or assets that necessitated the waiver shall also be made
available to the public. This subsection shall not apply, however,
if the head of the agency or his or her designee determines that
the determination under subsection (b)(1) or (b)(3), as the case
may be, involves classified information."
1989 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 405(1), as amended by
Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(e)(2), inserted "or" after "United States
Government," and "an officer or employee" before "of the District
of Columbia", substituted "general partner" for "partner" in two
places, and substituted "Shall be subject to the penalties set
forth in section 216 of this title" for "Shall be fined not more
than $10,000, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both".
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 405(2), added subsec. (b) and
struck out former subsec. (b), which read as follows: "Subsection
(a) hereof shall not apply (1) if the officer or employee first
advises the Government official responsible for appointment to his
position of the nature and circumstances of the judicial or other
proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other
determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation,
arrest, or other particular matter and makes full disclosure of the
financial interest and receives in advance a written determination
made by such official that the interest is not so substantial as to
be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the services which the
Government may expect from such officer or employee, or (2) if, by
general rule or regulation published in the Federal Register, the
financial interest has been exempted from the requirements of
clause (1) hereof as being too remote or too inconsequential to
affect the integrity of Government officers' or employees'
services. In the case of class A and B directors of Federal Reserve
banks, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall
be the Government official responsible for appointment."
Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 405(2), added subsecs.
(c) and (d).
1977 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95-188, Sec. 205(a), extended
conflicts of interest prohibition to a Federal Reserve bank
director, officer, or employee.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95-188, Sec. 205(b), inserted at end "In the
case of class A and B directors of Federal Reserve banks, the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be the Government
official responsible for appointment."
EFFECTIVE DATE
Section effective 90 days after Oct. 23, 1962, see section 4 of
Pub. L. 87-849, set out as a note under section 201 of this title.
EXEMPTIONS
Exemptions from former section 434 of this title deemed to be
exemptions from this section, see section 2 of Pub. L. 87-849, set
out as a note under section 203 of this title.
REGULATIONS
Responsibility of Office of Government Ethics for promulgating
regulations and interpreting this section, see section 201(c) of
Ex. Ord. No. 12674, Apr. 12, 1989, 54 F.R. 15159, as amended, set
out as a note under section 7301 of Title 5, Government
Organization and Employees.
Last modified: April 13, 2006
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