Reading Room Document

Divestiture of Stock and Purchase of Government Bonds by an Incoming Secretary of the Treasury

The incoming Secretary of the Treasury may purchase government bonds with the proceeds of a stock sale pursuant to a certificate of divestiture properly issued under 26 U.S.C. § 1043 and without violating the prohibition of 31 U.S.C. § 329, provided that he purchases the bonds after his commis-sion is signed by the President but before he takes the oath of office or enters on his duties as Secretary of the Treasury. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/opinion/file/786181/download.

June 22, 2006