Commerce secretary tells ethics office he will sell equities

WASHINGTON – Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he will sell all his equity holdings after a government ethics office noted inaccuracies and omissions in his financial disclosure reports.

Ross says in a statement issued Thursday night that he “made inadvertent errors in completing the divestitures required by my ethics agreement.”

He says he “worked diligently with my department’s ethics officials to make sure I avoided any conflicts of interest.”

However, the Office of Government Ethics sent Ross a letter Thursday noting that he continued to own assets which could lead to such conflicts.

Ross’ statement in response says, “To maintain the public trust, I have directed that all of my equity holdings be sold and the proceeds placed in U.S. Treasury securities.”