conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest with their official duties. In accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 3501.104(b)(3)(iii), most employees may invest in publicly traded mutual funds that include mining activities so long as: (1) the prospectus does not indicate the objective of concentrating its investments in entities engaged in private mining activities in the United States, and (2) the employee neither exercises control nor has the ability to exercise control over the financial interests held in the funds. Employees who are involved with the activities of mining companies or with mineral commodities in their official capacity may not hold such sector mutual funds in any amount. USGS employees (including the spouse and minor children) may not employee’s acquire a financial interest if the holding of the interest will: (1) require the disqualification from matters so central or critical to the employee’s performance of the official duties such that the ability to employee’s employee’s perform the duties of his or her position is materially impaired; or (2) adversely affect the efficient accomplishment of the mission because USGS’ another employee cannot be readily assigned to perform work from which the employee would be disqualified by reason of the financial interest. If there is any question about whether investment in a particular sector mutual fund would create an actual or perceived conflict of interest, contact the Ethics Office. (iii) Managed Accounts A managed account (also called a managed or a “separately account” “controlled is an account that is owned by the investor, but managed by a financial account”) advisor. The investor gives the financial advisor the discretion to buy, sell, and trade investments on behalf of the investor. Although some managed accounts may appear similar to mutual funds, they are not mutual funds and do not qualify for the same treatment as mutual funds under conflict of interest laws. Employees who own managed accounts are responsible for advising their financial advisors of the prohibitions and limitations listed in Sections 2 and 3 of this Guide. (iv) Exceptions Employees may hold interests in retirement, profit sharing or similar plans, provided a plan does not invest more than 25% of its funds in entities engaged in private mining
conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest with their official duties. In accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 3501.104(b)(3)(iii), most employees may invest in publicly traded mutual funds that include mining activities so long as: (1) the prospectus does not indicate the objective of concentrating its investments in entities engaged in private mining activities in the United States, and (2) the employee neither exercises control nor has the ability to exercise control over the financial interests held in the funds. Employees who are involved with the activities of mining companies or with mineral commodities in their official capacity may not hold such sector mutual funds in any amount. USGS employees (including the employee’s spouse and minor children) may not acquire a financial interest if the holding of the interest will: (1) require the employee’s disqualification from matters so central or critical to the performance of the employee’s official duties such that the employee’s ability to perform the duties of his or her position is materially impaired; or (2) adversely affect the efficient accomplishment of the USGS’ mission because another employee cannot be readily assigned to perform work from which the employee would be disqualified by reason of the financial interest. If there is any question about whether investment in a particular sector mutual fund would create an actual or perceived conflict of interest, contact the Ethics Office. (iii) Managed Accounts A managed account (also called a “separately managed account” or a “controlled account”) is an account that is owned by the investor, but managed by a financial advisor. The investor gives the financial advisor the discretion to buy, sell, and trade investments on behalf of the investor. Although some managed accounts may appear similar to mutual funds, they are not mutual funds and do not qualify for the same treatment as mutual funds under conflict of interest laws. Employees who own managed accounts are responsible for advising their financial advisors of the prohibitions and limitations listed in Sections 2 and 3 of this Guide. (iv) Exceptions Employees may hold interests in retirement, profit sharing or similar plans, provided a plan does not invest more than 25% of its funds in entities engaged in private mining
FINANCIAL%20GUIDE%20FOR%20USGS%20EMPLOYEES%20v40%2020180103.docx