6 Del. Admin. Code § 200-F-609

Current through Register Vol. 28, No. 5, November 1, 2024

Section 200-F-609 - Dishonest or Unethical Practices

(a) Each broker-dealer and broker-dealer agent registered in Delaware is required to observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade in the conduct of their business. The acts and practices described below in this Rule, among others, are considered contrary to such standards and may constitute grounds for denial, suspension or revocation of registration or such other action authorized by the Act.

(b)Broker-Dealers. For the purposes of Section 73-304(a)(7) of the Act, dishonest or unethical practices by a broker-dealer shall include, but not be limited to, the following conduct:

(1) Engaging in an unreasonable and unjustifiable delay in the delivery of securities purchased by any of its customers or in the payment, upon request, of free credit balances reflecting completed transactions of any of its customers, or failing to notify customers of their right to receive possession of any certificate of ownership to which they are entitled;

(2) Inducing trading in a customer's account that is excessive in size or frequency in view of the customer's investment objective, level of sophistication in investments, and financial situation and needs;

(4) Failing to reasonably supervise such broker-dealer's agents or employees. Reasonable supervision shall include, but not be limited to:

(A) maintaining and enforcing written procedures that will enable the broker-dealer to supervise properly the activities of each registered agent and that are reasonably designed to assure such agent's compliance with the Act;

(B) maintaining and preserving appropriate records for carrying out such broker-dealer's supervisory procedures, including but not limited to records required to maintained pursuant to Rule 606;

(C) periodically reviewing the activities of each office, which shall include an examination of customer accounts to detect and prevent irregularities or abuses;

(D) taking steps to ascertain the good character, business repute, qualifications and experience of any person prior to making such a certification in the application of such person for registration under the Act;

(E) maintaining a copy of the written supervisory procedures in each office or instantaneously accessible to agents or employees in such office, such as through the internet.

(5) Executing a transaction on behalf of a customer without prior authorization to do so;

(6) Exercising any discretionary power in effecting a transaction for a customer's account without first obtaining written discretionary authority from the customer, unless the discretionary power relates solely to the time and/or price for the execution of orders;

(7) Executing any transaction in a margin account without securing from the customer a properly executed written margin agreement promptly after the initial transaction in the account;

(8) Failing to segregate and identify customer's free securities or securities held in safekeeping;

(9) Hypothecating a customer's securities without having a lien thereon unless the broker-dealer secures from the customer a properly executed written consent promptly after the initial transaction, except as permitted by SEC regulations;

(10) Entering into a transaction with or for a customer at a price not reasonably related to the current market price of the security or receiving an unreasonable commission or profit (commissions or profits equal to 10% or more of the price of a security are presumed to be unreasonable);

(11) Failing to furnish to a customer purchasing securities in an offering, no later than the date of confirmation of the transaction, either a final prospectus or a preliminary prospectus and an additional document, which, together with the preliminary prospectus, includes all information set forth in the final prospectus;

(12) Charging unreasonable and inequitable fees for services performed, including miscellaneous services such as collection of monies due for principal, dividends or interest, exchange or transfer of securities, appraisals, safekeeping, or custody of securities and other services related to its securities business;

(13) Charging any fee for which no notice is given to the customer, and consent obtained, prior to the event incurring the fee;

(14) Offering to buy from or sell to any person any security at a stated price, unless such broker-dealer is prepared to purchase or sell, as the case may be, at such price and under such conditions as are stated at the time of such offer to buy or sell;

(15) Representing that a security is being offered to a customer "at the market" or a price relevant to the market price, unless such broker-dealer knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that a market for such security exists other than that made, created or controlled by such broker-dealer, or by any person for whom he is acting or with whom he is associated in such distribution, or any person controlled by, controlling or under common control with such broker-dealer;

(16) Effecting any transaction in, or inducing the purchase or sale of, any security by means of any manipulative or deceptive device, practice, plan, program, design or contrivance, that may include but not be limited to:

(A) effecting any transaction in a security that involves no change in the beneficial ownership thereof;

(B) entering an order or orders for the purchase or sale of any security with the knowledge that an order or orders of substantially the same size, at substantially the same time and substantially the same price, for the sale of any such security, has been or will be entered by or for the same or different parties for the purpose of creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading in the security or false or misleading appearance with respect to the market for the security; provided, however, nothing in this subparagraph shall prohibit a broker-dealer from entering bona fide agency cross transactions for its customers; or

(C) effecting, alone or with one or more other persons, a series of transactions in any security creating actual or apparent active trading in such security or raising or depressing the price of such security for the purpose of inducing the purchase or sale of such security by others;

(17) Guaranteeing a customer against loss in any securities account of such customer carried by the broker-dealer or in any securities transaction effected by the broker-dealer with or for such customer;

(18) Publishing or circulating or causing to be published or circulated, any notice, circular, advertisement, newspaper article, investment service, or communication of any kind that purports to report any transaction as a purchase or sale of any security, unless such broker-dealer believes that such transaction was a bona fide purchase or sale of such security; or that purports to quote the bid price or asked price for any security, unless such broker-dealer believes that such quotation represents a bona-fide bid for, or offer of, such security;

(19) Using any advertising or sales presentation in such a fashion as to be deceptive or misleading. An example of such practice would be a distribution of any nonfactual data, material, or presentation based on conjecture, unfounded or unrealistic claims or assertions in a brochure, flyer, or display by words, pictures, graphs or otherwise designed to supplement, detract from, supersede or defeat the purpose or effect of any prospectus or disclosure;

(20) Failing to disclose that the broker-dealer is controlled by, controlling, affiliated with or under common control with the issuer of any security before entering into any contract with or for a customer for the purchase or sale of such security, and, if such disclosure is not made in writing, it shall be supplemented by the giving or sending of written disclosure at or before the completion of the transaction;

(21) Failing to make a bona fide public offering of all the securities allotted to a broker-dealer for distribution, whether acquired as an underwriter or a selling group member, or from a member participating in the distribution as an underwriter or selling group member;

(22) Failing or refusing to furnish a customer, upon reasonable request, information to which he is entitled, including:

(A) with respect to a security recommended by the broker-dealer, material information that is reasonably available; and

(B) a written response to any written request or complaint;

(23) Making a recommendation that one customer buy a particular security and that another customer sell that security, where the broker-dealer acts as a principal and such recommendations are made within a reasonably contemporaneous time period, unless individual suitability considerations or preferences justify the different recommendations;

(24) Where the broker-dealer holds itself out as a market maker in a particular security, or publicly quotes bid prices in a particular security, failing to buy that security from a customer promptly upon the customer's request to sell;

(25) Recommending a security to its customers without conducting a reasonable inquiry into the risks of that investment or communicating those risks to its agents and its customers in a reasonably detailed manner and with such emphasis as is necessary to make the disclosure meaningful;

(26) Representing itself as a financial or investment planner, consultant, or adviser, when the representation does not fairly describe the nature of the services offered, the qualifications of the person offering the services, and the method of compensation for the services;

(27) Falsifying any record or document or failing to create or maintain any required record or documents;

(28) Violating any rule governing the conduct of a firm or individual promulgated by FINRA or its predecessor entities; or

(29) Aiding or abetting any of the conduct listed above.

(c)Broker-Dealer Agents and Issuer Agents. For the purposes of Section 73-304(a)(7) of the Act, dishonest or unethical practices by a broker-dealer agent or an issuer agent shall include, but not be limited to, the following conduct:

(1) Engaging in the practice of lending or borrowing money or securities from a customer, or acting as a custodian for money, securities or an executed stock power of a customer;

(2) Effecting securities transactions not recorded on the regular books or records of the broker-dealer that the agent represents, unless the transactions are authorized in writing by the broker-dealer prior to execution of the transaction;

(3) Establishing or maintaining an account containing fictitious information in order to execute transactions that would otherwise be prohibited;

(4) Sharing directly or indirectly in profits or losses in the account of any customer without the written authorization of the customer and the broker-dealer that the agent represents;

(5) Dividing or otherwise splitting the agent's commissions, profits or other compensation from the purchase or sale of securities with any person not also registered as an agent for the same broker-dealer or for a broker-dealer under direct or indirect common control;

(6) Where a recommendation is made that an unsophisticated customer purchase an over-the-counter security that (A) trades sporadically or in small volume, and (B) is not traded on any United States securities exchange, failing to inform the customer that he or she may not be able to find a buyer if the customer would subsequently want to sell the security;

(7) Where a recommendation is made to purchase an over-the-counter security in which the asked price is greater than the bid by 25 percent or more, failing to inform the customer of the bid and the asked prices and of the significance of the spread between them should the customer wish to resell the security;

(8) Using excessively aggressive or high pressure sales tactics, such as repeatedly telephoning and offering securities to individuals who have expressed disinterest and have requested that the calls cease, or using profane or abusive language, or calling prospective customers at home at an unreasonable hour at night or in the morning;

(9) Conducting or facilitating securities transactions outside the scope of the agent's relationship with his or her broker-dealer employer unless he or she has provided prompt written notice to his or her employer;

(10) Acting or registering as an agent of more than one broker-dealer without giving written notification to and receiving written permission from all such broker-dealers; or

(11) Holding himself or herself out as an objective investment adviser or financial consultant without fully disclosing his or her financial interest in a recommended securities transaction at the time the recommendation is made;

(12) Engaging in any of the conduct specified in subparagraph (b) above; or

(13) Aiding or abetting any of the conduct listed above.

(d)Prohibited practices in connection with investment company shares. For purposes of Section 73-304(a)(7) of the Act, unethical practices by a broker-dealer, broker-dealer agent or issuer agent shall include, but not be limited to, the following conduct:

(1) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, failing to adequately disclose to a customer all sales charges, including asset based and contingent deferred sales charges, which may be imposed with respect to the purchase, retention or redemption of such shares;

(2) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, stating or implying to a customer, either orally or in writing, that the shares are sold without a commission, are "no load" or have "no sales charge" if there is associated with the purchase of the shares a front-end load, a contingent deferred sales load, a SEC Rule 12 b-1 fee or a service fee which exceeds .25 percent of average net fund assets per year, or in the case of closed-end investment company shares, underwriting fees, commissions or other offering expenses;

(3) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, failing to disclose to a customer any relevant sales charge discount on the purchase of shares in dollar amounts at or above a breakpoint or the availability of a letter of intent feature which will reduce the sales charges to the customer;

(4) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, recommending to a customer a transaction or investment strategy involving a specific class of investment company shares in connection with a multi-class sales charge or fee arrangement without reasonable grounds to believe that the sales charge or fee arrangement associated with such transaction or investment strategy is suitable for the customer, in light of the customer's investment profile, including but not limited to, age, other investments, financial situation and needs, tax status, investment objectives, investment experience, investment time horizon, liquidity needs, risk tolerance, the associated transaction or other fees, and any other information material to the charge or fee arrangement;

(5) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, recommending to a customer a transaction or investment strategy involving the purchase of investment company shares which results in the customer simultaneously holding shares in different investment company portfolios having similar investment objectives and policies without reasonable grounds to believe that such transaction or investment strategy is suitable and appropriate, in light of the customer's investment profile, including but not limited to, age, other investments, financial situation and needs, tax status, investment objectives, investment experience, investment time horizon, liquidity needs, risk tolerance, any associated transaction charges or other fees, and any other information material to the investment;

(6) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, recommending to a customer a transaction or investment strategy involving the liquidation or redemption of investment company shares for the purpose of purchasing shares in a different investment company portfolio having similar investment objectives and policies without reasonable grounds to believe that such recommendation is suitable and appropriate, in light of the customer's investment profile, including but not limited to, age, other investments, financial situation and needs, tax status, investment objectives, investment experience, investment time horizon, liquidity needs, risk tolerance, any associated transaction charges or other fees, and any other information material to the investment;

(7) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, stating or implying to a customer, either orally or in writing, the fund's current yield or income without disclosing the fund's most recent average annual total return, calculated in a manner prescribed in SEC Form N-1A, for one, five and ten year periods and fully explaining the difference between current yield and total return; provided, however, that if the fund's registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933 has been in effect for less than one, five, or ten years, the time during which the registration statement was in effect shall be substituted for the periods otherwise prescribed;

(8) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, stating or implying to a customer, either orally or in writing, that the investment performance of an investment company portfolio is comparable to that of a savings account, certificate of deposit or other bank deposit account without disclosing to the customer that the shares are not insured or otherwise guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency and the relevant differences regarding risk, guarantees, fluctuation of principal and/or return, and any other factors which are necessary to ensure that such comparisons are fair, complete and not misleading;

(9) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, stating or implying to a customer, either orally or in writing, the existence of insurance, credit quality, guarantees or similar features regarding securities held, or proposed to be held, in the investment company's portfolio without disclosing to the customer other kinds of relevant investment risks, including but not limited to, interest rate, market, political, liquidity, or currency exchange risks, which may adversely affect investment performance and result in loss and/or fluctuation of principal notwithstanding the creditworthiness of such portfolio securities;

(10) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, stating or implying to a customer, either orally or in writing,

(A) that the purchase of such shares shortly before an ex-dividend date is advantageous to such customer unless there are specific, clearly described tax or other advantages to the customer, or

(B) that a distribution of long-term capital gains by an investment company is part of the income yield from an investment in such shares;

(11) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, making representations to a customer, either orally or in writing, that the broker-dealer or agent knows or has reason to know are based in whole or in part on information contained in dealer-use-only material which has not been approved for public distribution; or

(12) Aiding or abetting any of the conduct listed above.

(13) In connection with the offer or sale of investment company shares, the delivery of a prospectus shall not be dispositive that the broker-dealer or agent has fulfilled the duties set forth in the subparagraphs of this Rule.

(e) The conduct set forth above is not exclusive. Engaging in other conduct such as forgery, embezzlement, theft, exploitation, nondisclosure, incomplete disclosure or misstatement of material facts, manipulative or deceptive practices, or aiding or abetting any unethical practice, shall be deemed an unethical business practice and shall also be grounds for denial, suspension or revocation of registration.

6 Del. Admin. Code § 200-F-609

1 DE Reg. 1978 (6/1/98)
15 DE Reg. 529 (10/01/11)
18 DE Reg. 394 (11/01/14)
18 DE Reg. 575 (1/1/2015) (Final)