In this Issue: Including Life Events into Financial Disclosure
Welcome to your EXIM monthly 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

In January, many of us reflect on the previous year's events. Let's peek into an EXIM employee's diary of 2021.

Diary of 2021:

January: Wasn't it nice when our neighbors gifted us box tickets to the Kennedy Center and bottle of wine? Reminder to send them a thank you since the tickets were expensive!

February: It was so sad when my uncle passed away. I was so surprised getting a call from his attorney that I was named the executor of his estate.

March: Took the plunge and purchased our dream home in the suburbs. Worked out great that our nephew rented our old condo so we did not have to sell. Maybe we will live there again someday…

June: Celebrated my spouse landing their new dream job with an incredible signing bonus including shares of stock in the company - went to incredible dinner at the Inn at Little Washington

August: How cool, we finally bought some Bitcoin and just saw the amount go over $1,000!

October: My candle business really took off this month and I received 100 orders for my signature candle. So happy people are loving my designs.

December: After putting it off all year, we finally rolled over an old retirement plan so we can better manage our accounts.

All of these life events during last calendar year 2021 may be reportable on your upcoming financial disclosure reports. A vigilant employee, who consults the ethics office when questions arise, will have the highest chance of avoiding a conflict of interest. When timely advice is given and when all of the needed information is reported, financial disclosure forms are the best tools for ethics officials to give conflicts guidance. Completing these forms also aligns with a few of EXIM's values, such as transparency and accountability, which are found in the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, the Strategic Plan, among other places.

You may read more about EXIM's financial disclosure policy on EXIM Connect.

Financial Disclosure Forms General Information

1. Who files:

An employee's title, rate of pay, or level of responsibility typically determines filing status.

Employees paid at a rate above GS-15 or members of a few specific classes such as political appointees are required to file the public form OGE 278e. This form may become available for public review upon proper written request.

Employees paid at a rate of GS-15 or below, whose official duties involve a level of decision-making or policy work that could have a substantial economic impact on a non-federal entity are required to file the confidential form OGE 450. Procurement officers are a good example of this type of work. This form remains confidential and is held for internal ethics use only. Unlike the OGE 278e, it is not available to the public.

2. What is the reporting period?

The reporting period for annual disclosure filings is the preceding calendar year, January 1 - December 31.

3. How do you file: Both reports are filed online and assigned digitally to the filer. Each form's service has a user-friendly interface. Employees who filed a report last year are encouraged to "pre-populate" this year's report with prior data.
1. Form 450: FD Online
2. Form278e: Integrity.gov
4. Available Resources: The Office of Ethics is always available for advice. The Office of Government Ethics has published guides for each filing. The OGE 278 guide is found here. The OGE 450 guide is here.

Common Areas of Change on Financial Disclosures

The EXIM employee's diary entry represents different common areas in need of updating on annual financial disclosure reports.

1. Gifts:

Gifts meeting certain criteria need to be reported to maintain transparency and eliminate the potential for a conflict of interest. For both forms, the reporting threshold is $415, either as one gift or aggregated from a single source during the preceding calendar year. Reporting exceptions apply to both reports, such as gifts given by relatives or personal relationships.

1. 450: Part V, Gifts and Travel Reimbursements, including information about the donor's name, a description of the gift, and for travel-related gifts or reimbursements, an itinerary, purpose, dates and kinds of expenses.
2. 278: Part 9, Gifts and Travel Reimbursements, including identity of the source, the city and state of business or residence, description of the nature of the gift and the approximate fair market value.
1. Inheritance/Executor of Estate:

Wills, estates, and trusts are all treated differently on financial disclosure forms. Generally, filers need to identify interests in these types of assets to avoid potential conflicts or assets held.

1. 450: Several sections may be impacted if you inherit an estate and/or become an executor.

                                          i.    In Part I, an interest in an estate needs to be reported as well as assets distributed from an estate, reported the same way as other held assets. If the executor is paid a fee over $1,000 during the reporting period, it needs to be reported in this section.

                                         ii.    The position of Executor needs to be reported in Part III: Outside Positions.

                                        iii.    Inheritance is NOT considered a gift in Part V.

2. 278e: Several sections may need updating:

                                          i.    Part 1, Positions Held Outside the United States Government, report position as executor or trustee here (whether compensated or uncompensated).

                                         ii.    Part 6, Other Assets and Income, report assets distributed from an estate and a beneficial interest in an estate that has not yet been distributed. This includes each asset individually worth more than $1,000 or more than $200 of income was received during the reporting period

3. Personal and rental properties:
1. 450: There are two sections that may need updating for real estate reporting:

                                          i.    Part I, real estate is reportable if its value was worth more than $1,000 at the end of the reporting period. Annual filers must also report real estate from which they received more than $1,000 in income. Filers do not need to report a personal residence unless it was rented out for any period of time during the reporting period.

                                         ii.    Part II, filers do not need to report mortgages on personal residences or rental properties that were obtained on terms generally available to the public.

2. 278e:

                                          i.    Part 6, Other Assets and Income, requires reporting investment real estate and income with a value over $1,000 or income over $200. Personal residences are not reported unless it produces rental income.

                                         ii.    Part 8, Liabilities, a mortgage over $10,000 at any point during the reporting period needs to be reported for investment properties or if your personal residence was rented out for income.

4. Spouse Job Changes and Work-related holdings:
1. 450: Part I, filers must report spouse's employer's name and employment relationship as well as bonus payments if the payments totaled more than $1,000 during the reporting period. Any benefit plans held, for example retirement plans, also need to be reporting with the underlying assets individually worth more than $1,000 at the end of the reporting period.
2. 278e:

                                          i.    Part 5, Spouse's Employment Assets & Income, is an entire section for spouse's assets and income related to employment. For purposes of this part, "employment-related" is interpreted broadly to cover all of your spouse's non-investment activities as well as your spouse's retirement accounts.

                                         ii.    Part 6, Other Assets and Income, there is an option for identifying whether the filer, spouse or dependent child holds the assets. If spouse's buys stock in a company not included in a reported employee benefit in Part 5, it is reported in Part 6.

5. Changes in reportable assets, including cryptocurrency and retirement accounts:

For purposes of financial disclosures, "virtual currency" describes a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value that has an equivalent value in real currency, or acts as a substitute for real currency.

1. 450: Part I, filers must report stock or "virtual currency" if the value of the stock holding was more than $1,000 or $1,000 earned income. Any changes to retirement accounts being converged or rolled into different accounts must be reported in this section as well.
2. 278e:

                                          i.    Part 2, Your Employment Assets & Income: Changes to the filer's retirement accounts need to be reported, such as purchases and sales of underlying assets to the accounts individually worth more than $1,000. Distributions over $200 need to be reported as well.

                                         ii.    Part 5, Spouse's Employment Assets & Income: Same changes apply to spouse as listed for filer above.

                                        iii.    Part 6, Other Assets and Income, report a holding of virtual currency if worth more than $1,000 at the end of the reporting period or $200 of income was received. You need to specify the name of the virtual currency and where it is held if on an exchange or platform.

6. Outside employment/earned income: There is an agencywide requirement to submit a request for Outside Employment to the Office of Ethics for conflict review.
1. 450:

                                          i.    Part I, any source of income the filer or spouse received valued greater than $1,000 in the preceding calendar year needs to be reported. Sources of earned income for dependent children do not need to be reported, however filers should be aware of the sources to avoid potential conflict or appearance concerns.

                                         ii.    Part III, an annual filer must report positions held outside of the US Government. This section includes any hobbies or crafts being sold under a company you created.

2. 278e:

                                          i.    Part 1, Positions Held Outside the United States Government, where active roles in LLCs or managing members of companies need to be reported. If your craft business is held as an LLC, even if it is inactive, it needs to be reported until the LLC is dissolved.

                                         ii.    Part 2, Your Employment Assets & Income, requires reporting of income received for more than $200 from a source during the reporting period.

ASK ETHICS

Why are my spouse's investments relevant on my financial disclosure form?

Your spouse's assets are considered the same as your own for conflict of interest purposes. This rule is written into the conflict of interest statutes. So, a conflict of interest arises when one of those investments could be affected by an official action you take. The financial disclosure form helps screen for conflicts and potential recusals, making your spouse's assets important information to include on your report.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

January 2022 -

• By the 15th of the month, anyone with an ongoing outside activity should have submitted a request for approval for CY22. Please submit if you haven't done so already.
• We will be announcing OOE Office Hours in the next few weeks, please be on the look out for dates and times.

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

When in doubt,
contact us!

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