(1) For purposes of 30-10-201, MCA, "unethical practices" by a
broker-dealer means, but is not limited to:
(a) engaging in a pattern of unreasonable and
unjustifiable delays in either or both the:
(i) delivery of securities purchased by a
customer;
(ii) payment upon request of free credit balances
reflecting completed transactions of a customer;
(b) inducing trading in a customer's account
which is excessive in size or frequency in view of the financial resources and
character of the account;
(c) recommending to a customer the purchase,
sale, or exchange of a security without grounds to believe that the transaction
or recommendation is suitable for the customer based upon reasonable inquiry
concerning the customer's investment objectives, financial situation and needs,
and any other relevant information known by the broker-dealer;
(d) executing a transaction on behalf of a
customer without authorization to do so;
(e) 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 or price for the execution of orders or to
both time and price for the execution of orders;
(f) executing a transaction in a margin account
without securing from the customer a properly executed written margin agreement
promptly after the initial transaction in the account;
(g) failing to segregate a customer's fully paid
securities or securities held in safekeeping;
(h) 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 rules of the securities and exchange
commission.
(i) 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;
(j) 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 any
additional documents, which together include all information set forth in the
final prospectus;
(k) 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;
(l) offering to buy from or sell to a person a
security at a stated price unless the broker-dealer is prepared to purchase or
sell, as the case may be, at the price and under the conditions stated at the
time of the offer to buy or sell;
(m) representing that a security is being offered
to a customer "at the market" or a price relevant to the market price
unless the broker-dealer knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that a
market for the security exists other than that made, created, or controlled by
the broker-dealer, or by a person for whom he is acting or with whom he is
associated in the distribution, or by a person controlled by, controlling, or
under common control with the broker-dealer;
(n) effecting a transaction in, or inducing the
purchase or sale of, a security by means of a manipulative, deceptive, or
fraudulent device, practice, plan, program, design, or contrivance which may
include but is not limited to:
(i) effecting a transaction in a security which
involves no change in the beneficial ownership thereof;
(ii) entering an order for the purchase or sale of
a security with the knowledge that an order of substantially the same size, at
substantially the same time and substantially the same price, for the sale of
the 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 a false or misleading appearance with respect to the
market for the security. A
broker-dealer may, however, enter a bona fide agency cross transaction for its
customers.
(iii) effecting, alone or with one or more other
person, a series of transactions in a security creating actual or apparent
active trading in the security or raising or depressing the price of the
security, for the purpose of inducing the purchase or sale of the security by
others.
(o) guaranteeing a customer against loss in a
securities account of the customer carried by the broker-dealer or in a
securities transaction effected by the broker-dealer with or for the customer;
(p) publishing or circulating, or causing to be
published or circulated, a notice, circular, sales material, newspaper article,
investment service, or communication of any kind which purports to:
(i) report a transaction as a purchase or sale of
a security unless the broker-dealer believes that the transaction was a bona
fide purchase or sale of the security; or
(ii) quote the bid price or asked price for a
security, unless the broker-dealer believes that the quotation represents a
bona fide bid for, or offer of, the security;
(q) using sales material
or sales presentations in a deceptive or misleading fashion.
(r) failing to disclose that the broker-dealer
is controlled by, controlling,
affiliated with, or under common
control with, the issuer
of a security before entering into a contract with or for a customer. If the disclosure is not made in writing, it
must be supplemented by giving or sending a written disclosure at or before the
completion or the transaction.
(s) failing
to make a bona fide public offering of each security allotted to a
broker-dealer for distribution, whether acquired as an underwriter, as a
selling group member, or from a member participating in the distribution as an
underwriter or selling group member;
(t) failing
or refusing to furnish a customer, upon reasonable request, information to
which he is entitled, or to respond to a formal written request or complaint;
(u) engaging
in other conduct such as forgery, embezzlement, non-disclosure, incomplete
disclosure or misstatement of material facts, or manipulative or deceptive
practices.
(2) For
purposes of 30-10-201(13) (g) , MCA, "unethical practices" by a
salesman means, but is not limited to:
(a) 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;
(b) effecting
securities transactions not recorded on the regular books or records of the
broker-dealer which the agent represents, unless the transactions are
authorized in writing by the broker-dealer prior to execution of the
transaction;
(c) establishing
or maintaining an account containing fictitious information in order to execute
transactions which would otherwise be prohibited;
(d) sharing
directly or indirectly in profits or losses in the account of a customer
without the written authorization of the customer and the broker-dealer which
the agent represents;
(e) dividing
or otherwise splitting the agent's commissions, profits, or other compensation
from the purchase or sale of a security with a person not also registered as an
agent for the same broker-dealer, or for a broker-dealer under direct or
indirect common control;
(f) engaging
in conduct specified in (1) (b) , (1) (c) , (1) (d) , (1) (e) , (1) (f) , (1) (i) , (1) (j) ,
(1) (n) , (1) (o) , (1) (p) , or (1) (q) ; or
(g) engaging
in other conduct such as forgery, embezzlement, non-disclosure, incomplete
disclosure or misstatement of material facts, or manipulative or deceptive
practices.