Which of the following does not describe a prohibited practice for investment advisers?
I. The adviser sells its non-institutional clients securities that it has issued.
II. The adviser makes a discretionary trade for a client after receiving verbal authorization only and does not receive written authorization from the client within 10 business days of doing so.
III. The investment adviser requires an advisory fee of $300 to be paid in advance at the beginning of each quarter.
Explanation
Answer: D - Selections II and III do not describe prohibited practices. If an adviser makes a discretionary trade for a client after having received verbal authorization to do so and does not receive written authorization from the client within 10 business days of doing so, the adviser is limited to making recommendations to the client and executing unsolicited trades only, but he has not engaged in a prohibited practice, and this is the scenario described in Selection II. There is no provision that prohibits an adviser from requiring an advisory fee to be paid in advance as long as it is reasonable, as described in Selection III. An adviser is not permitted to sell its non-institutional clients securities it has issued itself because of the significant conflict of interest involved. The exception is if the client is an institution that is in the business of lending money, but Selection I specifically indicates “non-institutional clients.”
