Reading Room Document

Conflict-of-Interest Statute; Discussion with Chairman Budge of SEC.

This opinion examines the meaning of "particular matter" in 18 U.S.C. § 208(a), the conflict-of-interest statute. The opinion memoralizes advice given to the Securities and Exchange Commission, disagreeing with the SEC's initial view that the term did not extend to rule-making or other activities of more general scope. However, the opinion refrains from conclusively defining the scope of “particular interest." 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 https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/1009431/download.

July 28, 1969