(a) It is unlawful for any person, in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of any security, directly or indirectly, to:

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Terms Used In Alabama Code 8-6-17

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • sell: includes every contract of sale of, contract to sell, or disposition of a security or interest in a security for value. See Alabama Code 8-6-2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • writing: includes typewriting and printing on paper. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(1) Employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;
(2) Make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading; or
(3) Engage in any act, practice or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person.
(b) It is unlawful for any person who receives, directly or indirectly, any consideration from another person for advising the other person as to the value of securities or their purchase or sale, whether through the issuance of analyses or reports or otherwise,

(1) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud the other person,
(2) to engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon the other person,
(3) acting as principal for his own account, knowingly to sell any security to or purchase any security from a client, or acting as broker for a person other than such client, knowingly to effect any sale or purchase of any security for the account of such client, without disclosing to such client in writing before the completion of such transaction the capacity in which he is acting and obtaining the consent of the client to such transaction. The prohibitions of this subdivision shall not apply to any transaction with a customer of a dealer if such dealer is not acting as an investment adviser in relation to such transaction; or
(4) to engage in dishonest or unethical practices as the commission may define by rule.
(c) In the solicitation of advisory clients, it is unlawful for any person to make any untrue statement of a material fact, or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading.
(d) Except as may be permitted by rule or order of the commission, it is unlawful for any investment adviser to enter into, extend, or renew any investment advisory contract unless it provides in writing,

(1) that the investment adviser shall not be compensated on the basis of a share of capital gains upon or capital appreciation of the funds or any portion of the funds of the client;
(2) that no assignment of the contract may be made by adviser without the consent of the other party to the contract; and
(3) that the investment adviser, if a partnership, shall notify the other party to the contract of any change in the membership of the partnership within a reasonable time after the change.
(e) Subdivision (d)(1) does not prohibit an investment advisory contract which provides for compensation based upon the total value of a fund averaged over a definite period, or as of definite dates or taken as of a definite date. “Assignment,” as used in subdivision (d)(2), includes any direct or indirect transfer or hypothecation of an investment advisory contract by the assignor or of a controlling block of the assignor’s outstanding voting securities by a security holder of the assignor; but, if the investment adviser is a partnership, no assignment of an investment advisory contract is considered to result from the death or withdrawal of a minority of the members of the investment adviser having only a minority interest in the business of the investment adviser, or from the admission to the investment adviser of one or more members who, after admission, will be only a minority of the members and will have only a minority interest in the business.
(f) It is unlawful for any investment adviser to take or have custody of any securities or funds of any client if,

(1) the commission by rule prohibits custody; or
(2) in the absence of rule, the investment adviser fails to notify the commission that he has or may have custody.
(g) The commission may by rule or order adopt exemptions from subdivision (b)(3) and subdivisions (d)(1), (d)(2) and (d)(3) where such exemptions are consistent with the public interest and within the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of this act.
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