(a) Requirement of submission of reports. At the time of their nomination, Governors complete a financial disclosure report which, under the practice of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, is kept confidential. Because the Director of the Office of Government Ethics has ruled that Governors who do not perform the duties of their office for more than 60 days in any calendar year are not required to file financial disclosure reports that are open to the public, Governors file non-public reports annually, in accordance with this section. A Governor who performs the duties of his or her office for more than 60 days in a particular calendar year is required to file a public report in accordance with 5 CFR 2634.204(c).

(b) Person with whom reports should be filed and time for filing.

(1) A Governor shall file a financial disclosure report with the General Counsel on or before May 15 of each year when the Governor has been in office for more than 60 consecutive calendar days during the previous year.

(2) The General Counsel may, for good cause shown, grant to a Governor an extension of up to 45 days. An additional extension of up to 45 days may be granted by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics for good cause shown.

(c) Information required to be reported. Each report shall be a full and complete statement, on the form prescribed by the General Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics and in accordance with instructions issued by him or her. The form currently in use is Standard Form 278.

(d) Reviewing reports.

(1) Financial disclosure reports filed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall, within 60 days after the date of filing, be reviewed by the General Counsel who shall either approve the report, or make an initial determination that a conflict or appearance thereof exists. If the General Counsel determines initially that a conflict or the appearance of a conflict exists, he or she shall inform the Governor of his determination.

(2) If the General Counsel considers that additional information is needed to complete the report or to allow an adequate review to be conducted, he or she shall request the reporting Governor to furnish that information by a specified date.

(3) The General Counsel shall refer to the Chairman of the Board of Governors or the Vice Chairman the name of any Governor he or she has reasonable cause to believe has wrongfully failed to file a report or has falsified or wrongfully failed to report required information.

(e) Custody of and public access to reports.

(1) Retention of reports. Each report filed with the General Counsel shall be retained by him or her for a period of six years. After the six-year period, the report shall be destroyed unless needed in connection with an investigation then pending.

(2) Confidentiality of reports. Unless a public report is required by this section, the financial disclosure reports filed by Governors shall not be made public.