Today, the President and Vice President released their 2009 financial disclosure reports.

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires high-level federal officials to publicly disclose their personal financial interests. The public filing system serves to prevent financial conflicts of interest by providing for a systematic review of the finances of government officials. Those finances are set forth in annual disclosures which are reviewed and certified by ethics officials, including the independent Office of Government Ethics. Neither the President nor the Vice President have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been so certified by OGE.

Most of the information on both the President’s and the Vice President’s forms updates information that was disclosed on last year's forms, which were made publicly available in May 2009. We are continuing this Administration's practice, begun last year, of affirmatively posting these forms online here in the interests of transparency:

White House staff are also completing their forms and we anticipate they will be available here next month, also in electronic form.

Norm Eisen is Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform