15 U.S.C. § 9054: Conflicts of interest

Summary

Entities controlled by certain top federal officials or their close family cannot get the transactions described in section 9042. Controlling interest: owning or controlling at least 20 percent of any class of equity by vote or value. Covered entity: an entity where a covered individual directly or indirectly holds a controlling interest; holdings owned by 2 or more related family members are combined for this rule. Covered individual: the President, the Vice President, a cabinet department head, or a Member of Congress, and that person’s spouse, child, son‑in‑law, or daughter‑in‑law. Member of Congress: Senators, Representatives, Delegates to the House, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Equity interest: shares or similar ownership, LLC/partnership profit stakes, or rights/warrants to buy those. Before a transaction under section 9042 is approved, the entity’s chief executive and chief financial officers (or people doing those jobs) must certify to the Secretary and to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that the entity is eligible, including that it is not a covered entity.

Title 15, §9054

Commerce and Trade, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Definitions

In this section: (1) Controlling interest

(2)Covered entity

The term “covered entity” means an entity in which a covered individual directly or indirectly holds a controlling interest. For the purpose of determining whether an entity is a covered entity, the securities owned, controlled, or held by 2 or more individuals who are related as described in paragraph (3)(B) shall be aggregated.

(3)Covered individual

The term “covered individual” means—

(A)the President, the Vice President, the head of an Executive department, or a Member of Congress; and

(B)the spouse, child, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law, as determined under applicable common law, of an individual described in subparagraph (A).

(4)Executive department

The term “Executive department” has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 5.

(5)Member of Congress

The term “member of Congress” means a member of the Senate or House of Representatives, a Delegate to the House of Representatives, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.

(6)Equity interest

The term “equity interest” means—

(A)a share in an entity, without regard to whether the share is—

(i)transferable; or

(ii)classified as stock or anything similar;

(B)a capital or profit interest in a limited liability company or partnership; or

(C)a warrant or right, other than a right to convert, to purchase, sell, or subscribe to a share or interest described in subparagraph (A) or (B), respectively.

(b)Prohibition

Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, no covered entity may be eligible for any transaction described in section 9042 of this title.

(c)Requirement

The principal executive officer and the principal financial officer, or individuals performing similar functions, of an entity seeking to enter a transaction under section 9042 of this title shall, before that transaction is approved, certify to the Secretary and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that the entity is eligible to engage in that transaction, including that the entity is not a covered entity.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This part, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original “this subtitle”, meaning subtitle A (§§ 4001–4029) of title IV of div. A of Pub. L. 116–136, known as the Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020, which is classified principally to this part. For complete classification of subtitle A to the Code, see section 4001 of Pub. L. 116–136, set out as a

Short Title

note under section 9001 of this title, and Tables.

§9054 Conflicts of Interest