[20050923]RS21656_联邦官员使用盲目信托.pdf

Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS21656Updated September 23, 2005The Use of Blind Trusts By Federal Officialsname redactedLegislative AttorneyAmerican Law DivisionSummaryA blind trust, as discussed in this report, is a device employed by a federal officialto hold, administer and manage the private financial assets, investments and ownershipsof the official, and his or her spouse and dependant children, as a method of conflict ofinterest avoidance. In establishing a qualified blind trust upon the approval of theappropriate supervisory ethics entity, the official transfers, without restriction, controland management of private assets to an independent trustee who may not communicateinformation about the identity of the holdings in the trust to the official. The trust isconsidered “blind” because eventually, through the sale of transferred assets and thepurchase of new ones, the public officer will be shielded from knowledge of the identityof the specific assets in the trust. Without such knowledge, conflict of interest issueswould be avoided because no particular asset in the trust could act as an inf