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UNITED STATES OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
Competition Winnings, Awards, and Prizes
18 U.S.C. § 208
For most employees, a potential conflict of interest under 18 U.S.C. § 208 will not usually arise in
connection with the employee’s receipt of competition winnings and awards. If the employee is
entitled to competition winnings, an award, or a prize that has not yet been received, the
employee will have a financial interest in the issuing entity’s ability or willingness to disburse the
winnings, award, or prize. Winnings, awards, or prizes no longer implicate 18 U.S.C. § 208 after
they are received.
Other Considerations
The primary concerns with winnings, awards, and prizes typically arise from the Standards of
Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (Standards of Conduct). The
restrictions at 5 C.F.R. Part 2635, Subpart B, must be considered if the circumstances suggest that
the item was given for or because of the employee’s official position.
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In rare cases, winnings,
awards, or prizes that are won in the course of an employee’s official duties may also raise
supplementation of salary concerns under 18 U.S.C. § 209, which prohibits an outside entity from
paying an employee to perform their official duties or enhancing the employee’s pay because of
those official duties.
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Additionally, the applicability of the restrictions at 5 C.F.R. § 2635.807 must
be considered if the item was given in connection with teaching, speaking, or writing related to
the employee’s official duties.
Equity Index-Linked Note
18 U.S.C. § 208
An equity index-linked note is a debt instrument that affords the investor interest payments based
on the performance of an equity index
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and, sometimes, a guaranteed return. An employee does
not have a disqualifying financial interest in a particular matter merely because that matter may
affect a company whose market performance is incorporated into an index or similar market
measure representing a diverse group of companies, when the employee merely holds a non-
equity instrument or contractual arrangement producing income dependent on statistical changes
in that measure. Therefore, when the index reflects market changes among a diverse group of
securities, an employee may participate personally and substantially in particular matters that the
employee knows will directly and predictably affect the companies whose securities are part of
the relevant index.
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On the other hand, if the interest on the note tracks the performance of a
particular sector (e.g., “energy” or “financial services”), a single company, or a relatively small
3
See 5 C.F.R. § 2635.202.
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For additional assistance interpreting 18 U.S.C. § 209, see OGE DAEOgram DO-02-016 (2002).
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Generally speaking, an index is a statistical measure of changes in a group of representative securities chosen
to reflect a particular market or section of a market. Index, INVESTOPEDIA,
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/index.asp (last visited Sept. 8, 2021).
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Because stock market fluctuations are subject to so many variables and uncertainties, many particular matters
would have at best a speculative effect on stock price or an effect that is contingent on independent, unrelated
events.