2634.403—Qualified blind trusts.

(a) Definition. A qualified blind trust is a trust in which the filer, his spouse, or his minor or dependent child has a beneficial interest, which is certified pursuant to § 2634.405 of this subpart by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, and which includes in the trust instrument in the provisions required by paragraph (b) of this section, and has an independent trustee as defined in § 2634.406 of this subpart. See section 102(f)(3) of the Act.

(b) Required provisions. The instrument which establishes a blind trust must adhere substantively to model drafts circulated by the Office of Government Ethics, and must provide that:

(1) The primary purpose of the blind trust is to confer on the independent trustee and any other designated fiduciary the sole responsibility to administer the trust and to manage trust assets without the participation by, or the knowledge of, any interested party. This includes the duty to decide when and to what extent the original assets of the trust are to be sold or disposed of and in what investments the proceeds of sale are to be reinvested;

(2) The trustee and any other designated fiduciary in the exercise of their authority and discretion to manage and control the assets of the trust shall not consult or notify any interested party;

(3) None of the assets initially placed in the trust's portfolio shall include assets the holding of which by any interested party would be prohibited by the Act, by the implementing regulations, or by any other applicable Federal law, Executive order, or regulation;

(4) Any portfolio asset transferred to the trust by an interested party is free of any restriction with respect to its transfer or sale, except as fully described in schedules attached to the trust instrument, and as approved by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics;

(5) During the term of the trust, the interested parties shall not pledge, mortgage, or otherwise encumber their interests in the property held by the trust;

(6) The trustee shall promptly notify the filer and the Director of the Office of Government Ethics when any particular asset transferred to the trust by an interested party has been completely disposed of or when the value of that asset is reduced to less than $1,000;

(7) The trustee or his designee shall prepare the trust's income tax return. Under no circumstances shall the trustee or any other designated fiduciary disclose publicly, or to any interested party, the trust's tax return, any information relating to that return except for a summary of trust income in categories necessary for an interested party to complete his individual tax return, or any information which might specifically identify current trust assets, or those assets which have been sold or disposed of from trust holdings, other than information relating to the sale or disposition of original trust assets under paragraph (b)(6) of this section;

(8) An interested party shall not receive any report on trust holdings and sources of trust income, except that the trustee shall, without identifying specifically any asset or holding:

(i) Report quarterly the aggregate market value of the assets representing the interested party's interest in the trust;

(ii) Report the net income or loss of the trust, and any other information necessary to enable the interested party to complete his individual income tax return; and

(iii) Report annually, for purposes of section 102(a)(1)(B) of the Act, the aggregate amount of the trust's income attributable to the interested party's beneficial interest in the trust, categorized in accordance with § 2634.302(b) ;

(9) There shall be no direct or indirect communication with respect to the trust between an interested party and the independent trustee or any other designated fiduciary with respect to the trust unless:

(i) Such communication is in writing, with the prior written approval of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics and is filed with the Director in accordance with § 2634.408(c) of this subpart; and

(ii) It relates only:

(A) To the request for a distribution from the trust, which does not specify whether the distribution shall be made in cash or in kind;

(B) To the general financial interest and needs of the interested party including, but not limited to, a preference for maximizing current income or long-term capital appreciation;

(C) To notification of the trustee by the interested party that the interested party is prohibited by subsequently applicable statute, Executive order, or regulation from holding an asset, and to directions to the trustee that the trust shall not hold that asset; or

(D) To instructions to the trustee to sell all of an asset which was initially placed in the trust by an interested party, and which, in the determination of the filer creates a real or apparent conflict due to duties subsequently assumed by the filer (but the filer is not required to give such directions);

Code of Federal Regulations

Note: By the terms of paragraph (3)(C)(vi) of section 102(f) of the Act, communications which solely consist of requests for distributions of cash or other unspecified assets of the trust are not required to be in writing. Further, there is no statutory mechanism for pre-screening of proposed communications. However, experience of the Office of Government Ethics over the years dictates the necessity of prohibiting any oral communications between the trustee and an interested party with respect to the trust and pre-screening all proposed written communications, to prevent inadvertent prohibited communications and preserve confidence in the Federal qualified trust program. Accordingly, under its authority pursuant to paragraph (3)(D) of section 102(f) of the Act, the Office of Government Ethics will not approve proposed trust instruments which do not contain language conforming to this policy, except in unusual cases where compelling necessity is demonstrated to the Director, in his sole discretion.

(10) The interested parties shall not take any action to obtain, and shall take reasonable action to avoid receiving, information with respect to the holdings and the sources of income of the trust, including a copy of any trust tax return filed by the trustee, or any information relating to that return, except for the reports and information specified in paragraphs (b)(6) and (b)(8) of this section;

(11) An independent trustee and any other designated fiduciary shall file, with the Director of the Office of Government Ethics by May 15th following any calendar year during which the trust was in existence, a properly executed Certificate of Compliance in the form prescribed in appendix B to this part. In addition, the independent trustee and such fiduciary shall maintain and make available for inspection by the Office of Government Ethics, as it may from time to time direct, the trust's books of account and other records and copies of the trust's tax returns for each taxable year of the trust;

(12) Neither the trustee nor any other designated fiduciary shall knowingly and willfully, or negligently:

(i) Disclose to any interested party any information regarding the trust that may not be disclosed pursuant to title I of the Act, the implementing regulations, or the trust instrument;

(ii) Acquire any holding the ownership of which is prohibited by, or not in accordance with, the terms of the trust instrument;

(iii) Solicit advice from any interested party with respect to the trust, if such solicitation is prohibited by title I of the Act, the implementing regulations, or the trust instrument; or

(iv) Fail to file any document required by title I of the Act or by this part;

(13) An interested party shall not knowingly and willfully, or negligently:

(i) Solicit or receive any information regarding the trust that may not be disclosed pursuant to title I of the Act, the implementing regulations, or the trust instrument; or

(ii) Fail to file any document required by title I of the Act or by this part;

(14) No person, including investment counsel, investment advisers, accountants, and tax preparers, may be employed or consulted by an independent trustee or any other designated fiduciary to assist in any capacity to administer the trust or to manage and control the trust assets, unless the following four conditions are met:

(i) When any interested party learns about such employment or consultation, the person must sign the trust instrument as a party, subject to the prior approval of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics;

(ii) Under all the facts and circumstances, the person is determined pursuant to the requirements for eligible entities under § 2634.406 of this subpart to be independent of any interested party with respect to the trust arrangement;

(iii) The person is instructed by the independent trustee or other designated fiduciary not to disclose publicly or to any interested party information which might specifically identify current trust assets which have been sold or disposed of from trust holdings, other than information relating to the sale or disposition of original trust assets under paragraph (b)(6) of this section; and

(iv) The person is instructed by the trustee or other designated fiduciary to have no direct communication with respect to the trust with any interested party, and to make all indirect communications with respect to the trust only through the trustee, pursuant to paragraph (b)(9) of this section;

(15) The trustee shall not acquire by purchase, grant, gift, exercise of option, or otherwise, without the prior written approval of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, securities, cash, or other property from any interested party;

(16) The existence of any banking or other client relationship between any interested party and an independent trustee or any other designated fiduciary shall be disclosed in schedules attached to the trust instrument, and no other such relationship shall be instituted unless that relationship is disclosed to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics; and

(17) The independent trustee and any other designated fiduciary shall be compensated in accordance with schedules annexed to the trust instrument.

Code of Federal Regulations

[57 FR 11814, Apr. 7, 1992; 57 FR 21854, May 22, 1992]

CFR

2634.403—Qualified blind trusts.

Code of Federal Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations