If you are a broker-dealer or salesperson registered or required to be registered under RCW 21.20.040, it is an "act, practice, or course of business" which operates or would operate as fraud within the meaning of RCW 21.20.010 to, directly or indirectly, publish, circulate, or distribute any communications that do not comply with the following content standards:

(1) All your communications must be based on principles of fair dealing and good faith, must be fair and balanced, and must provide a sound basis for evaluating the facts in regard to any particular security or type of security, industry, or service. You may not omit any material fact or qualification if the omission, in light of the context of the material presented, would cause the communications to be misleading.

(2) You may not make any false, exaggerated, unwarranted, promissory, or misleading statement or claim in any communication. You may not publish, circulate, or distribute any communication that you know or have reason to know contains any untrue statement of a material fact or is otherwise false or misleading.

(3) You must ensure that statements in communications are clear and not misleading within the context in which they are made, and that they provide balanced treatment of risks and potential benefits. Communications must be consistent with the risks of fluctuating prices and the uncertainty of dividends, rates of return, and yield inherent to investments.

(4) You must consider the nature of the audience to which the communication will be directed and must provide details and explanations appropriate to the audience.

(5) All your retail communications and correspondence must:

(a) Prominently disclose the broker-dealer's name, or the name under which the broker-dealer primarily is conducted as disclosed on your Form BD, and may also include a fictional name by which you are commonly recognized or which is required by any state or jurisdiction;

(b) Reflect any relationship between the broker-dealer and any nonbroker-dealer or individual who is also named; and

(c) If it includes other names, reflect which products or services are being offered by the broker-dealer.

This subsection (5) does not apply to so-called "blind" advertisements used to recruit personnel.