(a) Purpose. The regulations in this part apply to employees of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Corporation) and supplement the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch contained in 5 CFR part 2635. Where specified, these regulations also apply to the Comptroller of the Currency and the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision in connection with their activities as members of the Corporation's Board of Directors.

(b) Corporation ethics officials. The Executive Secretary of the Corporation shall act as the Corporation's Ethics Counselor and as its Designated Agency Ethics Official under 5 CFR part 2638. The Ethics Program Manager shall act as the Corporation's Alternate Ethics Counselor and as the Alternate Agency Ethics Official.

(1) The Ethics Counselor or Alternate Ethics Counselor may delegate authority to one or more employees to serve as Deputy Ethics Counselors.

(2) The delegation to a Deputy Ethics Counselor shall be in writing and cannot be redelegated.

(c) Agency designees. The Ethics Counselor and Alternate Ethics Counselor shall serve as the agency designees for purposes of making the determinations, granting the approvals, and taking other actions required by an agency designee under part 2635 and this part. The Ethics Counselor or Alternate Ethics Counselor may delegate authority to Deputy Ethics Counselors or to other employees to serve as agency designees for specified purposes. The delegation to any agency designee shall be in writing and cannot be redelegated.

(d) Definitions. For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

(1) Affiliate, as defined in 12 U.S.C. 1841(k), means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company.

(2) Appropriate director means the head of a Washington office or division or the highest ranking official assigned to a regional office in each division or the Ethics Counselor.

(3) Covered employee means:

(i) Members of the FDIC Board of Directors and any employee required to file a public or confidential financial disclosure under 5 CFR part 2634 who holds a position immediately subordinate to such Board member;

(ii) The director of any Washington division or office and the director of any regional office, and any employee required to file a public or confidential financial disclosure report under 5 CFR part 2634 who holds a position immediately subordinate to such director;

(iii) An FDIC examiner;

(iv) Any other FDIC employee whose duties and responsibilities include the examination of or the participation in the examination of any financial institution;

(v) Any other FDIC employee whose duties and responsibilities, as determined by the Chairman or Ethics Counselor after notice to the employee, require application of the prohibition on borrowing contained in §3201.102 to ensure public confidence that the FDIC's programs are conducted impartially and objectively.

(4) Employee means an officer or employee, other than a special Government employee, of the Corporation, including a member of the Board of Directors appointed under the authority of 12 U.S.C. 1812(a)(1)(C). For purposes of 5 CFR part 2635 and §§3201.103 and 3201.104, employee includes any individual who, pursuant to a contract or any other arrangement, performs functions or activities of the Corporation, under the direct supervision of an officer or employee of the Corporation.

(5) Ethics Counselor means an officer or employee who is designated by the head of the agency to coordinate and manage the agency's ethics program, and includes the Corporation's Alternate Ethics Counselor.

(6) Security includes an interest in debt or equity instruments. The term includes, without limitation, a secured or unsecured bond, debenture, note, securitized assets, commercial paper, and all types of preferred and common stock. The term includes an interest or right in a security, whether current or contingent, a beneficial or legal interest derived from a trust, the right to acquire or dispose of any long or short position, an interest convertible into a security, and an option, right, warrant, put, or call with respect to a security. The term security does not include a deposit account.

(7) State nonmember bank means any State bank as defined in 12 U.S.C. 1813(e) that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System.

(8) Subsidiary, as defined in 12 U.S.C. 1813(w), means any company that is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by another company.

[60 FR 20174, Apr. 25, 1995, as amended at 67 FR 71070, Nov. 29, 2002; 72 FR 19378, Apr. 18, 2007]