The SEC with concurrence of the Office of Government Ethics, is amending its Supplemental Standards of Conduct for Members and Employees to eliminate a recently established prior approval requirement for outside employment.  

        SEC's Rationale.   SEC Staffers are already subject to strict limitations regarding the type of employment they're allowed to undertake, and staff regularly seeks advice from the ethics office prior to taking any outside employment.  In addition, the requirement appears to be largely cumulative of other measures without providing significant additional benefits.  These other measures include:

• the requirement that SEC staff members submit proposed publications or prepared speeches relating to the Commission (or to the statutes or rules it administers) to the General Counsel for review.
• current financial disclosure regulations and current substantive regulations prohibiting conflicting outside employment.

The requirement to obtain prior approval for outside employment has not identified any conflicts or otherwise enhanced the ethics program.    [SEC Final Rule Release 34-64172]