Purpose

18 U.S.C. 208(a) prohibits an officer or employee of the executive branch, of any independent agency of the United States, of the District of Columbia, or Federal Reserve bank director, officer, or employee, or any special Government employee from participating in an official capacity in particular matters in which he has a personal financial interest, or in which certain persons or organizations with which he is affiliated have a financial interest. The statute is intended to prevent an employee from allowing personal interests to affect his official actions, and to protect governmental processes from actual or apparent conflicts of interests. However, in certain cases, the nature and size of the financial interest and the nature of the matter in which the employee would act are unlikely to affect an employee's official actions. Accordingly, the statute permits waivers of the disqualification provision in certain cases, either on an individual basis or pursuant to general regulation. Section 208(b)(2) provides that the Director of the Office of Government Ethics may, by regulation, exempt from the general prohibition, financial interests which are too remote or too inconsequential to affect the integrity of the services of the employees to which the prohibition applies. The regulations in this part describe those financial interests. This part also provides guidance to agencies on the factors to consider when issuing individual waivers under 18 U.S.C. 208 (b)(1) or (b)(3), and provides an interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 208(a).