MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTION:

PROCESSING OGE FORM 450 FOR ANNUAL FILERS

1. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) government wide regulations, Executive Branch Financial Disclosure, 5 C.F.R. Part 2634, require all agencies to determine if the duties and responsibilities of an employee's position require the filing of a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE Form 450, to avoid a real or apparent conflict of interest. Agencies must also decide if filing is required to carry out the purposes behind any statute, Executive Order, rule or regulation applicable to or administered by that employee. The Department of Defense (DoD) supplemented the regulation with the "Joint Ethics Regulation (JER)," DoD 5500.7-R. Based on both sets of regulations, DoD supervisors must annually review the position description of each person under their immediate supervision to determine whether the incumbent must file the OGE Form 450.

2. Please have your supervisors review the positions under their immediate supervision. They must decide whether a position requires filing of a report based on the duties and responsibilities in the position description. To help your supervisors decide which employees should file, we are enclosing "Determining Annual Confidential Financial Disclosure Filers" (Attachment A). Individuals who file an SF 278 do not file. Special Government Employees, including consultants and members of DoD committees, file an OGE Form 450 annually on the date of their appointment or reappointment, not during the annual filing period.

3. To help the process, we will forward two lists, the primary list with this package and the second list in early October. The primary list is a printout of our database of civilian and military employees who filed an OGE Form 450 last year (Attachment B). If any of those employees now have new duties and position descriptions that do not meet the criteria for filing, they will not have to file this year. Also, employees who have left those positions need to be deleted. Where known, we have already attempted to delete employees who left the agency. Where applicable, we will forward in early October an additional second list (to be Attachment C), a computer print-out of positions designated as requiring filing as of September 30th. That list may contain names that have not yet been added to our database.

4. Please mark the primary list to indicate the names of any that should be deleted. Also indicate if the names on the secondary list should be added or deleted. If any other employees need to be added, please provide the name, GS grade or military rank, position description or billet number, and their entry on duty. We will then inform the appropriate office. Please provide these marked-up lists to this office by October 31st.

5. Please notify all your employees who must file and provide them with an OGE Form 450. The form is attached for you to copy for this purpose (Attachment D). As we informed you last year, all SF 450s should have been destroyed, as there is no authority to use them. If we receive any SF 450s, we will have to request that the information be submitted on the correct form. If any of your employees want to complete the form electronically and then print it out for original signatures and review, that is acceptable. However, as the report is confidential, it is the individual employee's responsibility to safeguard his or her electronic version. You could also print blank copies of the form to make additional copies. Please advise your employees to make and keep a copy of their reports to assist them in preparing subsequent reports. They will also need them next year if they can use the OGE Optional Form 450-A, which is discussed below.

6. When you provide the notification and blank form, please also provide each employee required to file with a copy of "Instruction For Completing OGE Form 450" (Attachment E). It explains his or her responsibility for completing and submitting the form. The "Sample OGE Form 450," together with explanatory Notes (Attachment F), should also be included with the package of materials. The sample should help them to complete the report in a more timely and accurate manner.

7. DoD employees may also use the DoD-authorized version of OGE Form 450-A, Confidential Certificate of No New Interests, Attachment G, instead of filing the full 450. Form 450-A is merely a statement that the employee has no new interests to report. Employees must meet two criteria before they can use the form. First, they must be performing the same job with substantially the same duties, and second, they must have no new interests to report in any of the five report categories. The employee must attach a copy of his or her most recently filed OGE Form 450 to the Certificate before giving it to the supervisor for review. Starting in 2000, and every four years thereafter, every employee must file OGE Form 450, regardless of whether they could have filed the Certificate.

8. Please provide each supervisor with a copy of "Instruction: Supervisory Review of OGE Form 450" (Attachment H). It will assist them to review reports and move them through the system in a timely manner. Supervisors must review and sign the report. The Instruction also contains a sample Disqualification Statement. If your supervisor decides that disqualification is necessary, he or she should sign it, keep the original and forward the copy to the ethics counselor.

9. The report should reflect financial interests during the previous year, from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 1998. Please encourage your employees to submit their reports to their supervisors by November 15th or ASAP. After the supervisor reviews and signs the report, it must be submitted to (your office) by November 30, 1998. By carefully completing and reviewing the reports, significant effort and time can be saved. The reports will be returned if they contain improper or incomplete entries.

10. If you have any questions, please contact (your name) at (your number). We will assist you in resolving any unique questions or concerns.