Section 53691 - Financial advisory relationship(a) A financial advisory relationship shall be deemed to exist when a broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer renders, or enters into an agreement to render, financial advisory or consultant services to, or on behalf of, an issuer, with respect to a new issue or issues of municipal securities, including advice with respect to the structure, timing, and terms of an issue or issues, for a fee or other compensation, or in expectation of compensation for the rendering of the services. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a financial advisory relationship shall not be deemed to exist when, in the course of acting as an underwriter, a municipal securities dealer renders advice to an issuer, including advice with respect to the structure, timing, and terms of a new issue of municipal securities.(b) Each financial advisory relationship shall be evidenced by a writing executed prior to, upon, or promptly after, the inception of the financial advisory relationship (or promptly after the creation or selection of the issuer if the issuer does not exist or has not been determined at the time the relationship commences). The writing shall set forth the basis of compensation for the financial advisory services to be rendered, including provisions relating to the deposit of funds or the utilization of fiduciary or agency services offered by the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer, or by a person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer in connection with the rendering of the financial advisory services.(c) No broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer that has a financial advisory relationship with respect to a new issue of municipal securities shall acquire, as principal, either alone or as a participant in a syndicate or other similar account formed for the purpose of purchasing, directly or indirectly, from the issuer all or any portion of the issue, nor arrange for the acquisition or participation by a person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer, unless one of the following applies: (1) If the issue is to be sold by the issuer on a negotiated basis, all of the following conditions have occurred: (A) The financial advisory relationship with respect to the issue has been terminated in writing and, at or after the termination, the issuer has expressly consented in writing to the acquisition or participation in the purchase of the securities on a negotiated basis.(B) The broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer has expressly disclosed in writing to the issuer, at or before the termination, that there may be a conflict of interest in changing from the capacity of financial adviser to purchaser of the securities with respect to which the financial advisory relationship exists, and the issuer has expressly acknowledged in writing to the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer receipt of that disclosure.(C) The broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer has expressly disclosed in writing to the issuer, at or before the termination, the source and anticipated amount of all remuneration to the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer with respect to the issue in addition to the compensation referred to in subdivision (b), and the issuer has expressly acknowledged in writing to the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer receipt of that disclosure.(2) If the issue is to be sold by the issuer at competitive bid, the issuer has expressly consented in writing prior to the bid to that acquisition or participation. The limitations and requirements set forth in this subdivision shall also apply to any broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer having a financial advisory relationship. The use of the term "indirectly" in this subdivision shall not preclude a broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer who has a financial advisory relationship with respect to a new issue of municipal securities from purchasing those securities from an underwriter, either for its own trading account or for the account of customers, except to the extent that the purchase is made to contravene the purpose and intent of this section. Each broker, dealer, and municipal securities dealer subject to the provisions of this subdivision shall maintain a copy of the written disclosures, acknowledgments, and consents required by this section in a separate file.
(d) If a broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer acquires all or a portion of a new issue of municipal securities or participates in a syndicate or other account that acquires those securities in accordance with subdivision (c), the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer shall disclose the existence of the financial advisory relationship in writing to each customer who purchases those securities from that broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer, at or before the completion of the transaction with the customer.Repealed and added by Stats. 1981, Ch. 496, Sec. 3.