From "Fed to ban policymakers from owning individual stocks" (2021) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28951646 :
> "Blind Trust" > "Use by US government officials to avoid conflicts of interest" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_trust :
>> The US federal government recognizes the "qualified blind trust" (QBT), as defined by the Ethics in Government Act and related regulations.[1] In order for a blind trust to be a QBT, the trustee must not be affiliated with, associated with, related to, or subject to the control or influence of the government official.
>> Because the assets initially placed in the QBT are known to the government official (who is both creator and beneficiary of the trust), these assets continue to pose a potential conflict of interest until they have been sold (or reduced to a value less than $1,000). New assets purchased by the trustee will not be disclosed to the government official, so they will not pose a conflict.
The Ethics in Government Act which created OGE was passed by Congress in 1978 in response to Watergate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_in_Government_Act