Obama, DOD See Conflicts of Interest Differently

Government Contracts Group counsel Peter J. Eyre is featured for his thoughts on the Obama administration's proposal on organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) and how it differs from  the Department of Defense's 2010 draft.  According to the article, the Administration's potential rule on OCIs "allows the government to accept more risk and raises questions about conflicts among business affiliates… The White House kept the general framework of the DOD's proposed OCI rule with its preference for mitigation, but gives contacting officers more flexibility when faced with potential harm to the government and other vendors, according to the new proposal published April 26."

"Although the proposal's purpose is to avoid prejudicing companies from certain contracts, officials recognize that corporate structural barriers-such as independent directors or separate legal offices, for instance-might be enough to mitigate a conflict," said Eyre.