Registration and bonds of dealers, agents, investment advisers, etc.

(a) It is unlawful for any person to transact business in this state as a dealer or agent for securities unless he or she is registered under this article. It is unlawful for any dealer or issuer to employ an agent unless the agent is registered.

(b) It is unlawful for any person to transact business in this state as an investment adviser or as an investment adviser representative unless:

(1) He or she is so registered under this article;

(2) His or her only clients in this state are investment companies as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, other investment advisers, broker-dealers, banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, employee benefit plans with assets of not less than $1,000,000, and governmental agencies or instrumentalities, whether acting for themselves or as trustees with investment control, or other institutional investors as are designated by rule or order of the commission; or

(3) He or she has no place of business in this state and during any period of 12 consecutive months does not direct business communications in this state in any manner to more than five clients, other than those specified in subdivision (2), whether or not he, she, or any of the persons to whom the communications are directed is then present in this state.

(c) It is unlawful for any investment adviser required to be registered to employ an investment adviser representative unless the investment adviser representative is registered under this article. The registration of an investment adviser representative is not effective during any period when he or she is not employed by an investment adviser registered under this article. When an investment adviser representative begins or terminates employment with an investment adviser, the investment adviser shall promptly notify the commission.

(d) A dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative may apply for registration by filing with the Securities Commission, or its designee, an application, together with a consent to service of process pursuant to Section 8-6-12 and payment of the fee prescribed in subsection (h) of this section. The application shall contain whatever information the commission requires concerning such matters as:

(1) The applicant's form and place of organization;

(2) The applicant's proposed method of doing business;

(3) The qualifications and business history of the applicant and, in the case of a dealer or investment adviser, any partner, officer, or director, any person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions, or any person directly or indirectly controlling the dealer or investment adviser;

(4) Any injunction or administrative order or conviction of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, a security or any aspect of the securities business, or any conviction of a felony;

(5) The applicant's financial condition and history; and

(6) Any information to be furnished or disseminated to any client or prospective client, if the applicant is an investment adviser.

(e) The commission, by rule or order, shall require all or any class of applicants to post surety bonds, or cash, in an amount not less than $50,000, and shall determine their conditions.

(f) If no order to the contrary is in effect and no proceeding is pending under subsection (j), registration becomes effective at 5:00 p.m. on the sixtieth day after an application is filed. The Securities Commission may specify an earlier effective date, and it may by order defer the effective date until 5:00 p.m. of the sixtieth day after the filing of any amendment. The commission shall require as conditions of registration that:

(1) All or any class of applicants and, in the case of a corporation or partnership, the officers or partners, pass an examination, either written or oral, the form, content, and conduct of which the commission shall prescribe by rule or order.

(2) A dealer shall have and maintain a minimum net capital as the commission shall prescribe by rule or order. The commission may establish by rule minimum financial requirements for investment advisers, which may include different requirements for those investment advisers who maintain custody of clients' funds or securities or who have discretionary authority over the same and those investment advisers who do not.

(3) Every registration expires December 31 unless renewed as provided in this section.

(g) Registration of a dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative may be renewed by filing with the Securities Commission, or its designee, prior to the expiration thereof, a renewal application. The renewal application shall contain such information as the commission may require to indicate any material change in the information contained in the original application or any renewal application for registration filed with the commission, or its designee, by the applicant, payment of the prescribed fee, and a bond as provided in subsection (e), if the financial condition of the registrant requires such bond. In order to continue the effectiveness of registration and to entitle the dealer or adviser to a renewal thereof, such registrant shall file a financial statement prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and certified by an independent certified public accountant showing the financial condition of such registrant at the close of its fiscal period. This statement shall be filed with the commission, or its designee, within 60 days after the close of the registrant's fiscal period unless an extension of time is granted by the commission. The commission shall accept for filing a financial statement in the form required to be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission from those registrants who are registered therewith.

(h) The fee for initial or renewal registration shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for a dealer, seventy dollars ($70) for an agent, two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for an investment adviser, and seventy dollars ($70) for an investment adviser representative. The fee for initial or renewal registration of an investment adviser or investment adviser representative shall be deposited in the Alabama Securities Commission Fund in the State Treasury to be drawn upon by the commission for its use in administration of this article. When an application is denied or withdrawn, the Securities Commission shall retain the fee.

(i) Every registered dealer and investment adviser shall make and keep such accounts and other records as the Securities Commission by rule prescribes. All records so required shall be preserved for five years unless the commission prescribes otherwise for particular types of records. The commission may require that certain information be furnished or disseminated by a registrant as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors and advisory clients. To the extent determined by the commission in its discretion, information furnished to clients or prospective clients of an investment adviser pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the rules thereunder may be used in whole or partial satisfaction of this requirement. All the records of any registrant are subject at any time or from time to time to such reasonable periodic, special, or other examinations by representatives of the commission, within or without this state, as the commission deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors.

(j) The Securities Commission may by order deny, suspend, or revoke any registration, or censor or bar any applicant or registrant or any officer, director, partner, or person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions for a registrant, from employment with a dealer or investment adviser, or restrict or limit a registrant as to any function or activity of the business for which registration is required in this state if the commission finds that the order is in the public interest and that the applicant or registrant or, in the case of a dealer or investment adviser, any partner, officer, or director, any person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions, or any person directly or indirectly controlling the dealer or investment adviser:

(1) Has filed an application for registration under this section which, as of its effective date or as of any date after filing in the case of an order denying effectiveness, was incomplete in any material respect or contained any statement which was, in the light of the circumstance under which it was made, false or misleading with respect to any material fact;

(2) Has willfully violated or willfully failed to comply with any provisions of this article, or a predecessor act, or any rule or order under this article, or a predecessor act;

(3) Has been convicted of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, a security, or any aspect of the securities business or any felony;

(4) Is permanently or temporarily enjoined by any court of competent jurisdiction from engaging in or continuing any conduct or practice involving any aspect of the securities business;

(5) Is the subject of an order of the commission denying, suspending, or revoking registration as a dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative;

(6) Is the subject of an order, adjudication, or determination entered within the past 10 years by a securities or commodities agency or a national securities exchange or association registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or an administrator of another state, or a court of competent jurisdiction that the person has violated the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Commodity Exchange Act, or the federal mail and wire fraud statutes, or the securities, investment adviser, or commodities law of any other state; but the commission may not enter any order under this subsection on the basis of an order unless that order was based on facts which would currently constitute a ground for an order under this section;

(7) Has engaged in dishonest or unethical practices in the securities business;

(8) Is insolvent, either in the sense that his or her liabilities exceed his or her assets or in the sense that he or she cannot meet his or her obligations as they mature, but the commission may not enter an order against a dealer or investment adviser under this subsection without a finding of insolvency as to the dealer or investment adviser;

(9) Has not complied with a condition imposed by the commission under subsection (f), or is not qualified on the basis of such factors as training, experience, or knowledge of the securities business;

(10) Has failed reasonably to supervise his or her agents or employees if he or she is a dealer, or his or her investment adviser representatives or employees if he or she is an investment adviser to assure their compliance with this article; or

(11) Has failed to pay the proper filing fee, but the commission may enter only a denial order under this subsection, and it shall vacate any such order when the deficiency has been corrected.

The commission may by order summarily postpone or suspend registration pending final determination of any proceeding under this subsection.

(k) If the Securities Commission finds that any registrant or applicant for registration is no longer in existence, has ceased to do business as a dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative, is subject to an adjudication of mental incompetence or to the control of a committee, conservator, or guardian, or cannot be located after reasonable search, the commission may by order cancel the registration or application.

(Acts 1959, No. 542, p. 1318, §2; Acts 1969, No. 605, p. 1093, §1; Acts 1971, No. 2243, p. 3598, §§1, 2; Acts 1979, No. 79-462, p. 827, §1; Acts 1988, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 88-722, p. 112; Acts 1990, No. 90-527, p. 772, §1; Act 2009-774, p. 2401, §1; Act 2018-275, §1.)