Sec.  19.735-202   Financial interests prohibited by the Communications Act.

   (a)  No Commissioner shall have a pecuniary interest in any hearing or
   proceeding in which he participates. (47 U.S.C. 154(j).)

   (b)(1) Section 4(b) of the Communications Act, at 47 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(A),
   provides:

   No member of the Commission or person employed by the Commission shall:

   (i) Be financially interested in any company or other entity engaged in the
   manufacture or sale of telecommunications equipment which is subject to
   regulation by the Commission;

   (ii) Be financially interested in any company or other entity engaged in the
   business  of  communication  by  wire  or  radio  or in the use of the
   electromagnetic spectrum;

   (iii)  Be  financially interested in any company or other entity which
   controls any company or other entity specified in clause (i) or clause (ii),
   or which derives a significant portion of its total income from ownership of
   stocks, bonds, or other securities of any such company or other entity; or

   (iv) Be employed by, hold any official relation to, or own any stocks,
   bonds, or other securities of, any person significantly regulated by the
   Commission under this act; except that the prohibitions established in this
   subparagraph shall apply only to financial interests in any company or other
   entity which has a significant interest in communications, manufacturing, or
   sales activities which are subject to regulation by the Commission.

   (2)  To  determine  whether  an  entity  has a significant interest in
   communications  related  activities  that  are  subject  to Commission
   regulations, the Commission shall consider, without excluding other relevant
   factors, the criteria in section 4(b) of the Communications Act, at 47
   U.S.C. 154(b)(3). These criteria include:

   (i) The revenues and efforts directed toward the telecommunications aspect
   of the business;

   (ii) The extent of Commission regulation over the entity involved;

   (iii)  The  potential economic impact of any Commission action on that
   particular entity; and

   (iv) The public perception regarding the business activities of the company.

   (3)(i) Section 4(b) of the Communications Act, at 47 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(B)(i),
   permits the Commission to waive the prohibitions at 47 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(A).
   The Act's waiver provision at 47 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(B)(i) provides:

   The  Commission  shall have authority to waive, from time to time, the
   application of the prohibitions established in subparagraph (A) of section
   4(b) to persons employed by the Commission if the Commission determines that
   the financial interests of a person which are involved in a particular case
   are minimal, except that such waiver authority shall be subject to the
   provisions  of section 208 of title 18, United States Code. The waiver
   authority established in this subparagraph shall not apply with respect to
   members of the Commission.

   (ii)(A) Requests for waiver of the provisions of 47 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(A) may
   be submitted by an employee to the Head of the employee's Office or Bureau,
   who will endorse the request with an appropriate recommendation and forward
   the request to the Designated Agency Ethics Official. The Designated Agency
   Ethics Official has delegated authority to waive the applicability of 47
   U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(A).

   (B) All requests for waiver shall be in writing and in the required detail.
   The dollar value for the financial interest sought to be waived shall be
   expressed  explicitly  or  in  categories  of  value provided at 5 CFR
   2634.301(d).

   (C) Copies of all waiver requests and the action taken thereon shall be
   maintained by the Designated Agency Ethics Official. In any case in which
   the Commission exercises the waiver authority established in section 4(b) of
   the Communications Act, the Commission shall publish notice of such action
   in the Federal Register and shall furnish notice of such action to the
   appropriate committees of each House of the Congress. Each such notice shall
   include information regarding the identity of the person receiving the
   waiver, the position held by such person, and the nature of the financial
   interests which are the subject of the waiver.