If you are a broker-dealer or salesperson registered or
required to be registered under
RCW
21.20.040, it is an "act, practice, or course
of business" which operates or would operate as fraud within the meaning of
RCW
21.20.010 to, directly or indirectly,
publish, circulate, or distribute any communications that do not comply with
the following content standards:
(1)
All your communications must be based on principles of fair dealing and good
faith, must be fair and balanced, and must provide a sound basis for evaluating
the facts in regard to any particular security or type of security, industry,
or service. You may not omit any material fact or qualification if the
omission, in light of the context of the material presented, would cause the
communications to be misleading.
(2) You may not make any false, exaggerated,
unwarranted, promissory, or misleading statement or claim in any communication.
You may not publish, circulate, or distribute any communication that you know
or have reason to know contains any untrue statement of a material fact or is
otherwise false or misleading.
(3)
You must ensure that statements in communications are clear and not misleading
within the context in which they are made, and that they provide balanced
treatment of risks and potential benefits. Communications must be consistent
with the risks of fluctuating prices and the uncertainty of dividends, rates of
return, and yield inherent to investments.
(4) You must consider the nature of the
audience to which the communication will be directed and must provide details
and explanations appropriate to the audience.
(5) All your retail communications and
correspondence must:
(a) Prominently disclose
the broker-dealer's name, or the name under which the broker-dealer primarily
is conducted as disclosed on your Form BD, and may also include a fictional
name by which you are commonly recognized or which is required by any state or
jurisdiction;
(b) Reflect any
relationship between the broker-dealer and any nonbroker-dealer or individual
who is also named; and
(c) If it
includes other names, reflect which products or services are being offered by
the broker-dealer.
This subsection (5) does not apply to so-called "blind"
advertisements used to recruit personnel.
