In this Issue: Form 278e Points of Confusion and How to Solve
Them!
Welcome to your EXIM monthly ethics newsletter. Our
goal is to enhance the agency's ethics education by bringing you
helpful information, insights, and updates. We are here to
support you and hope this format is an enjoyable way for you to
stay informed and ethical!
Overview
Every year
around the time the DC metro area is on cherry blossom watch, the
EXIM Office of Ethics (OOE) is on Form 278e watch. Due on or
around May 15th, the Annual Public Financial
Disclosure form is required for specified agency employees. At
EXIM, more than 50 employees are required to file the Form 287e
this year.
Although
all employees must comply with the federal conflict of interest
rules, a subset of them are required to disclose financial
interests for ethics review. An employee's title, rate of pay, or
level of responsibility typically determines filing status.
The
public filing (Form 278e) is used for employees paid at a rate
above GS-15 or for a few specific class of employee such as
political appointee or the designated agency ethics official.
This form may become available for public review upon a proper
written request.
In this newsletter, we will answer some of the
more commonly asked questions about financial disclosure. At any
time during your filing, please do not hesitate to contact the
OOE.
Commonly Asked Questions and Answers
Q: I traded some of my stocks last month. Should I
report the exchange of the stocks on my annual disclosure report?
A: No, a recent transaction does not need to be reported on your
annual disclosure. The reporting period for annual disclosure
filings is the preceding calendar year, January 1 - December 31.
It is important to note you will need to file a Periodic Transaction
Report within 45 days of the transaction.
Q: I own a 2nd home in sunny Florida. I have owned the home for
several years but decided last year to rent it out for the first
time. Do I have to report my property?
A: Yes, there are potentially two sections of your report you will
need to update with your rented property. Only personal
residences that are not rented and do not produce rental income
are not reported (*except Presidentially Appointed, Senate
confirmed (PAS) employees).
First, in Part 6, Other Assets & Income, report
investment real estate and income with a value over $1,000 or
income over $200. Second, if you have a mortgage on the property
over $10,000 at any point during the reporting period, the
mortgage needs to be reported in Part 8, Liabilities.
Q: My spouse and I do not share any finances together and have all
separate accounts. Why am I required to report spousal assets?
A: For conflict analysis purposes, your spouse's interests are
imputed to you. While working on matters at EXIM, you need to
know if you have a conflict and should possibly recuse yourself
from working on the manner.
The key language in the criminal conflict of
interest statute, 18 U.S.C. §208, prohibits a federal employee
from participating personally and substantially in a matter,
which to their knowledge, the employee or spouse has a financial
interest. You are disqualified from working on matters to the
same extent as if your spouse's interest was your own interest.
The financial disclosure form helps screen for conflicts and potential
recusals, making your spouse's assets important and required
information to include on your report.
Q: I do not want to miss any holdings or positions, so I decided to
list every single account I have ever held and every position as
well, paid and unpaid. Did I report too much?
A: After you certify and submit your report, it gets routed to the
Office of Ethics for review. The attorney reviewing the report
may recommend removing information considered overreporting for
privacy or other reasons. However, the filer may choose to keep
the information on their report if they choose, but OOE does not
recommend it.
Q: I don't manage my own investment accounts and have no idea what's
in them. If I don't personally make any changes to the account
and leave all the dealings to my account manager, am I still
required to report the assets in the brokerage account?
A: Yes, you are required to report your managed account and assets
in the account. Although you have given control of the account to
a financial advisor, the financial advisor has the discretion to
buy, sell, and trade investments on behalf of the investor/filer.
Although there is an account manager, the investor owns each of
these assets in the account individually and directly in the
investor's own name. For this reason, as well as others, each
asset over the reporting requirement must be disclosed as a
separate line item in the financial disclosure report.
Additionally, your account manager must keep you
informed of any reportable transactions to be reported on a
Periodic Transaction report.
Q: I decided to get more involved with my community last year and
joined as an officer to the community board of directors. I see
Part 1 is asking for any positions I hold outside of my federal
employment. Do I need to report this role?
A: Yes, even if the position is unpaid, your officer role is
required reporting. Reportable positions include those of an
officer, director, general partner, limited partner with an
active role, proprietor, representative, executor, trustee,
employee or consultant of any for-profit or non-profit
organization. This includes reporting a trust that benefits you
or a relative. When you report the position, be sure to add a
title or brief description of the position. There are certain outside
positions that do not need to be reported. These include but are
not limited to positions held by your spouse or dependent
children; positions held in religious, social, fraternal, or
political entities; or mere membership in an organization. If you
are reporting the position on your financial disclosure, you will
also need to consider if you should file a "Request for Approval
of Outside Employment" form with the Office of Ethics.
Q: I have tried to log-in to Integrity several times, but I am
getting an error message.
A: This has to be the most frustrating of bloopers! Several steps
can be taken to try and remedy log-in issues. The most common
solutions include clearing your cache, restarting your computer,
and referring to the Integrity.gov user guide. Please do not
hesitate to email the Ethics Office as well if you have continued
issues.
ASK ETHICS
Have we
missed any areas of the 278e you would like for us to review?
Please submit your questions to the Office of Ethics at EthicsAdvice@exim.gov.
Upcoming Dates & Deadlines
In April
2022 -
- Please join our Know EXIM
session on Thursday, April 28th at 11:30am.
|
About
the
Office
of Ethics
The
Office of Ethics was established by the 2015 EXIM Charter. The
Office of Ethics staff is available at any time to provide advice
and counsel to employees and managers on any ethics questions,
including: personal and financial conflicts of interest; gifts;
seeking and negotiating other employment; engaging in outside
activities; financial disclosure reporting; political activity;
and, post-employment restrictions.
In accordance
with the Charter, the Senior Vice President and Chief Ethics
Officer, Lisa Terry, serves as the Designated Agency Ethics Official
(DAEO). She oversees EXIM's federal ethics program and
administration of EXIM's ethics program.
The DAEO, along
with the Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official (ADAEO) Lance Mathews, coordinates with the Office of Government Ethics
and manages the day-to-day activities of the Office of Ethics.
Both the DAEO
and ADAEO, as well as ethics counsel, Stephen Grimes and Debra Zusin, are available at any time to provide advice and
counsel to employees and managers on any ethics questions.
The Office of
Ethic's program specialist Gabrielle Guy, provides Ethics' program specialist, provides
administrative support, including serving as system administrator
for the Integrity and Financial Disclosure (FD) online systems.
When
contemplating any action that may be covered by the ethics rules,
always seek the advice of the Office of Ethics at EthicsAdvice@exim.gov.
Lisa V. Terry
Senior Vice President &
Chief Ethics Officer
Office of Ethics Staff:
Lisa V. Terry
Senior Vice President &
Chief Ethics Officer (DAEO)
Lance Mathews
Deputy Chief Ethics Officer (ADAEO)
Stephen
Grimes
Attorney-Advisor, Ethics
Debra Zusin
Attorney-Advisor, Ethics
Gabrielle Guy
Program Specialist |
