4/6/11: Last August, the SEC announced changes to 5 C.F.R. Section 4401.103, the “Outside Employment and Activities” rule, which included a new provision that required SEC employees to seek "prior approval" from the agency before engaging in a wide range of outside activities such as writing, speaking and employment -- whether those activities were related to the SEC or not. As you may recall, the Union objected to the new version last fall on the grounds that it was overly broad and constituted an improper prior restraint on SEC employees' First Amendment rights. As a result of further discussions with the Union, we are pleased to announce that this week the SEC approved a new version of 5 C.F.R. Section 4401.103 which removes the prior approval requirement. This new version of the rule should be published in the Federal Register soon.

The Union would like to thank Shira Minton, the SEC's new Ethics Counsel, for working closely with Chapter 293 leadership to make these changes. Indeed, the issues at stake for SEC employees were enormous.  The version of the rule enacted last fall required SEC employees to obtain prior approval from the SEC for all forms of outside written communication by SEC employees, whether or not it related in any way to the work of the SEC. For example, employees might have been required to get pre-approval before sending a letter to the editor of their local newspaper regarding a matter of local concern or posting a message on a social networking site. The old rule was overly broad and we are pleased that the SEC has agreed to change it.