Iowa Admin. Code r. 191-50.38

Current through Regsiter Vol. 46, No. 26, June 12, 2024

Rule 191-50.38 - Prohibited conduct in providing investment advice

(1) An investment adviser, an investment adviser representative, or a federal covered investment adviser is a fiduciary and has a duty to act primarily for the benefit of its clients. Rule 191-5038. (502) applies to federal covered investment advisers to the extent that the alleged conduct is fraudulent, deceptive, or as otherwise permitted by the NSMIA. While the extent and nature of this duty varies according to the nature of the relationship between an investment adviser, an investment adviser representative, or a federal covered investment adviser and its clients and the circumstances of each case, an investment adviser, an investment adviser representative, or a federal covered investment adviser shall not engage in prohibited fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative conduct including, but not limited to:

a. Recommending to a client to whom investment advisory services are provided the purchase, sale, or exchange of any security without reasonable grounds to believe that the recommendation is suitable for the client on the basis of information furnished by the client after reasonable inquiry concerning the client's investment objectives, financial situation and needs, and any other information known by the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser;

b. Exercising any discretionary authority in placing an order for the purchase or sale of securities for a client without obtaining written discretionary authority from the client within ten business days after the date of the first transaction placed pursuant to discretionary authority, unless the discretionary authority relates solely to the price at which, or the time when, an order for a definite amount of a specified security shall be executed, or both;

c. Inducing trading in a client's account that is excessive in size or frequency compared to the financial resources, investment objectives, and character of the account;

d. Placing an order to purchase or sell a security for a client account without authority to do so;

e. Placing an order to purchase or sell a security for a client account upon instruction of a third party without first obtaining a written third-party trading authorization from the client;

f. Borrowing money or securities from a client unless the client is a broker-dealer, an affiliate of the investment adviser, or a financial institution engaged in the business of loaning funds;

g. Loaning money or securities to a client unless the investment adviser is a financial institution engaged in the business of loaning funds or the client is an affiliate of the investment adviser;

h. Misrepresenting to any client, or prospective client, the qualifications of the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser or any employee, or affiliated persons, or misrepresenting the nature of the advisory services being offered or fees to be charged for such service, or omitting to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made regarding qualifications, services or fees, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading;

i. Providing a report or recommendation to any advisory client prepared by someone other than the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser without disclosing that fact. This prohibition does not apply when the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser uses published research reports or statistical analyses to render advice or when an investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser orders such a report in the normal course of providing service;

j. Charging a client an unreasonable fee;

k. Failing to disclose to clients in writing before any advice is rendered any material conflict of interest regarding the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser or any of its employees, or affiliated persons which could reasonably be expected to impair the rendering of unbiased and objective advice including, but not limited to:

(1) Compensation arrangements connected with investment advisory services to clients which are in addition to compensation from such clients for such services; and

(2) Charging a client an investment advisory fee for rendering advice when compensation for effecting securities transactions pursuant to such advice will be received by the investment adviser,

investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser or its employees or affiliated persons;

l. Knowingly selling any security to or purchasing any security from a client while acting as principal for an advisory account of the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser, or knowingly effecting any sale or purchase of any security for the account of the client while acting as broker-dealer for a person other than the client, without disclosing to the client in writing before the completion of the transaction the capacity in which the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser is acting and without obtaining the written consent of the client to the transaction.

(1) The prohibitions of paragraph 50.38(1)"/" shall not apply to any transaction with a customer of a broker-dealer if the broker-dealer is not acting as an investment adviser in relation to the transaction.

(2) The prohibitions of paragraph 50.38(1)"/" shall not apply to any transaction with a customer of a broker-dealer if the broker-dealer acts solely as an investment adviser:

1. By means of publicly distributed written materials or publicly made oral statements;

2. By means of written materials or oral statements not purporting to meet the objectives or needs of specific individuals or accounts;

3. Through the issuance of statistical information containing no expressions of opinion as to the investment merits of a particular security; or

4. Any combination of the foregoing services.

(3) Publicly distributed written materials or publicly made oral statements shall disclose that, if the purchaser of the advisory communication uses the investment adviser's services in connection with the sale or purchase of a security which is a subject of the communication, the investment adviser may act as principal for its own account or as agent for another person. Compliance by the investment adviser with the foregoing disclosure requirement shall not relieve the investment adviser of any other disclosure obligations under the Act.

(4) Definitions for purposes of rule 191-5038. (502):

1."Publicly distributed written materials " means written materials which are distributed to 35 or more persons who pay for those materials.

2."Publicly made oral statements" means oral statements made simultaneously to 35 or more persons who pay for access to those statements.

m. Guaranteeing a client that a specific result will be achieved with advice rendered;

n. Making, in the solicitation of clients, any untrue statement of a material fact, or omitting to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statement made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading;

o. Disclosing the identity, affairs, or investments of any client unless required by law to do so, or unless disclosed with the client's consent;

p. Taking any action, directly or indirectly, regarding securities or funds in which any client has any beneficial interest when the investment adviser has custody or possession of such securities or funds and when the action of the investment adviser or investment adviser representative is subject to and in violation of the custody requirements provided by rule 191-5039. (502);

q. Failing to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of material nonpublic information in violation of Section 204A of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940;

r. Engaging in any act, practice, or course of business which is fraudulent, deceptive, manipulative, or unethical;

s. Engaging in conduct or any act, indirectly or through or by any other person, which is unlawful for such person to do directly under the provisions of this Act, its implementing rules, or order of the administrator;

t. Failing to disclose or providing incomplete disclosure to a client regarding any securities-related activities, or engaging in deceptive practices;

u. Soliciting or accepting a gift, directly or indirectly, from an unrelated customer that in the aggregate exceeds $250 in a calendar year. A gift accepted by an immediate family member from an unrelated client shall be included in the aggregate limit. An investment adviser shall not solicit or accept from a client a gift transferred through a relative or third party to the investment adviser's benefit that would have the effect of evading this paragraph;

v. Soliciting or accepting being named as a beneficiary, executor, or trustee in a will or trust of an unrelated customer;

w. Evading or otherwise negating the requirements of paragraph 50.38(1)'f"."g, " "u" or"v, " by terminating the customer relationship for the purpose of soliciting or accepting a loan or gift or being named as a beneficiary, executor or trustee in a will or trust that the agent is otherwise not permitted to solicit or accept. An investment adviser or investment adviser representative will not be in violation of this rule if the investment adviser or investment adviser representative has made a bona fide termination of the client relationship and conducted no securities-related business or other business for a period of three years with the client;

x. Engaging in conduct deemed dishonest or unethical in rule 191-50.55 (502); and

y. Employing any method or tactic which uses undue pressure, force, fright, or threat, whether explicit or implied, in connection with providing investment advice, or committing any act which shows that an investment adviser or investment adviser representative has exerted undue influence over a client.

(2) An investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser shall not, directly or indirectly, publish, circulate, or distribute any advertisement that does any one of the following:

a. Refers to any testimonial of any kind concerning the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser or concerning any advice, analysis, report, or other service rendered by such investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser.

b. Refers to past specific recommendations of the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser that were or would have been profitable to any person, except that an investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser may furnish or offer to furnish a list of all recommendations made by the investment adviser, investment adviser representative, or federal covered investment adviser within the immediately preceding period of not less than one year if the advertisement or list also includes both of the following:

(1) The name of each security recommended, the date and nature of each recommendation, the market price at that time, the price at which the recommendation was to be acted upon, and the most recently available market price of each such security.

(2) A legend on the first page in prominent print or type that states that the reader should not assume that recommendations made in the future will be profitable or will equal the performance of the securities in the list.

c. Represents that any graph, chart, formula, or other device being offered can in and of itself be used to determine which securities to buy or sell, or when to buy or sell them; or which represents, directly or indirectly, that any graph, chart, formula, or other device being offered will assist any person in making that person's own decisions as to which securities to buy or sell, or when to buy or sell them, without prominently disclosing in such advertisement the limitations thereof and the difficulties with respect to the use of any graph, chart, formula or device.

d. Represents that any report, analysis, or other service will be furnished for free or without charge, unless such report, analysis, or other service actually is or will be furnished entirely free and without any direct or indirect condition or obligation.

e. Represents that the administrator has approved any advertisement.

f. Contains any untrue statement of a material fact, or any statement that is otherwise false or misleading.

(3) With respect to federal covered investment advisers, the provisions of subrule 50.38(2) apply only to the extent permitted by Section 203A of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

(4) For the purposes of subrule 50.38(2), the term "advertisement" shall include any notice, circular, letter, or other written communication addressed to more than one person, or any notice or other announcement in any electronic or paper publication, by radio or television, or by any medium, that offers any one of the following:

a. Any analysis, report, or publication concerning securities.

b. Any analysis, report, or publication that is to be used in making any determination as to when to buy or sell any security, or which security to buy or sell.

c. Any graph, chart, formula, or other device to be used in making any determination as to when to buy or sell any security, or which security to buy or sell.

d. Any other investment advisory service with regard to securities.

(5) The prohibitions of rule 191-5038. (502) shall not apply to an investment adviser effecting an agency cross transaction for an advisory client provided the following conditions are met:

a. The advisory client executes a written consent prospectively authorizing the investment adviser to effect agency cross transactions for such client;

b. Before obtaining such written consent from the client, the investment adviser makes full written disclosure to the client that, with respect to agency cross transactions, the investment adviser will act as broker-dealer for, receive commissions from, and have a potentially conflicting division of loyalties and responsibilities regarding both parties to the transactions;

c. At or before the completion of each agency cross transaction, the investment adviser or any other person relying on subrule 50.38(5) sends the client a written confirmation. The written confirmation shall include:

(1) A statement of the nature of the transaction;

(2) The date the transaction took place;

(3) An offer to furnish, upon request, the time when the transaction took place; and

(4) The source and amount of any other remuneration the investment adviser received or will receive in connection with the transaction. In the case of a purchase, if the investment adviser was not participating in a distribution, or, in the case of a sale, if the investment adviser was not participating in a tender offer, the written confirmation may state whether the investment adviser has been receiving or will receive any other remuneration and that the investment adviser will furnish the source and amount of such remuneration to the client upon the client's written request;

d. At least annually, and with or as part of any written statement or summary of the account from the investment adviser, the investment adviser or any other person relying on subrule 50.38(5) sends each client a written disclosure statement identifying:

(1) The total number of agency cross transactions for the client during the period since the date of the last such statement or summary; and

(2) The total amount of all commissions or other remuneration the investment adviser received or will receive in connection with agency cross transactions for the client during the period;

e. Each written disclosure and confirmation required by subrule 50.38(5) must include a conspicuous statement indicating that the client may revoke the written consent required under paragraph 50.38(5)"a" at any time by providing written notice to the investment adviser;

f. No agency cross transaction may be effected in which the same investment adviser recommended the transaction to both any seller and any purchaser;

g. "Agency cross transaction for an advisory client, " for purposes of subrule 50.38(5), means a transaction in which a person acts as an investment adviser in relation to a transaction in which the investment adviser, or any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with such investment adviser, including an investment adviser representative, acts as a broker-dealer for both the advisory client and for another client on the other side of the transaction. When acting in such capacity, such person acting as an investment adviser, or any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with such investment adviser, including an investment adviser representative, is required to be registered as a broker-dealer in this state unless excluded from the definition of investment adviser;

h. Nothing in subrule 50.38(5) shall be construed to relieve an investment adviser or investment adviser representative from acting in the best interests of the client, including fulfilling the duty with respect to the best price and execution for the particular transaction for the client, nor shall subrule 50.38(5) relieve any investment adviser or investment adviser representative of any other disclosure obligations imposed by the Act.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 502.502(2).

Iowa Admin. Code r. 191-50.38

ARC 1076C, IAB 10/2/2013, effective 11/6/2013