(a) Prohibited activities. A finder shall not:
- (1) participate in negotiating any of the terms of an investment;
- (2) give advice to an accredited investor or an issuer regarding the advantages or disadvantages of entering into an investment;
- (3) conduct due diligence on behalf of a potential issuer or potential investor, provide valuation, or provide other analysis to an accredited investor or an issuer regarding an investment;
- (4) advertise to seek accredited investors or issuers;
- (5) have custody of an accredited investor's funds or securities;
- (6) serve as an escrow agent for the parties; or
- (7) disclose information to an accredited investor or to an issuer other than the information described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) Required disclosures.
(1) A finder must disclose the following to each accredited investor:
- (A) that compensation will be paid to the finder;
- (B) that the finder can neither recommend nor advise the accredited investor with respect to the offering; and
- (C) any potential conflict of interest in connection with the finder's activities.
- (2) The disclosures required by paragraph (1) of this subsection must be provided in writing.
(c) Permitted disclosures.
(1) A finder may provide to an accredited investor some or all of the following information:
- (A) the name, address, and telephone number of the issuer of the securities;
- (B) the name, a brief description, and price (if known) of any security to be issued;
- (C) a brief description of the business of the issuer in 25 words or less;
- (D) the type, number, and aggregate amount of securities being offered; and/or
- (E) the name, address, and telephone number of the person to contact for additional information.
- (2) A finder may provide to an issuer contact information regarding an accredited investor.
(d) Recordkeeping.
- (1) A finder is not required to maintain the records listed in §115.5 of this title (relating to Minimum Records); however, compliance with the recordkeeping requirements of §115.5 of this title will satisfy the requirements of this subsection.
- (2) A finder shall maintain and preserve a copy of Form BD used to register the finder for a period of five (5) years from the date of the termination of the finder's registration.
(3) A finder shall maintain and preserve for a period of five (5) years the following records related to transactions that are completed and to transactions where the finder receives compensation:
- (A) records of compensation received for acting as a finder, including the name of the payor, the date of payment, name of the issuer, and name of the accredited investor;
- (B) copies of information provided by the finder to prospective accredited investors;
- (C) any agreements and/or contracts between the finder and the accredited investor;
- (D) any agreements and/or contracts between the finder and the issuer;
- (E) any lists of contacts/prospective accredited investors and/or issuers; and
- (F) any correspondence with accredited investors and/or issuers.
- (4) The records required to be maintained and preserved pursuant to this subsection must be maintained in a manner that will permit the immediate location of any particular document.
- (5) The records required to be maintained and preserved pursuant to this subsection may be archived if they are more than two years old.
- (6) A finder shall not commingle records to be maintained and preserved pursuant to this subsection with other records.
- (7) A finder shall, upon written request of the Securities Commissioner, furnish to the Securities Commissioner any records required to be maintained and preserved under this subsection.
- (e) Supervisory requirements. Because a finder is an individual who will not have agents, a finder is not required to maintain a supervisory system as provided in §115.10 of this title (relating to Supervisory Requirements).
Source Note:The provisions of this §115.11 adopted to be effective September 1, 2006, 31 TexReg 6713.