Washington Securities Laws

Each state has its own securities laws. The following are selected sections of the Washington securities laws that are generally applicable in FINRA arbitrations.

RCW 21.20.035
Unlawful purchases or sales for customer’s account.
It is unlawful for a broker-dealer, salesperson, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative knowingly to effect or cause to be effected, with or for a customer’s account, transactions of purchase or sale (1) that are excessive in size or frequency in view of the financial resources and character of the account
RCW 21.20.702

Suitability of recommendation — Reasonable grounds required

(1) In recommending to a customer the purchase, sale, or exchange of a security, a broker-dealer, salesperson, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative must have reasonable grounds for believing that the recommendation is suitable for the customer upon the basis of the facts, if any, disclosed by the customer as to his or her other security holdings and as to his or her financial situation and needs.

(2) Before the execution of a transaction recommended to a noninstitutional customer, other than transactions with customers where investments are limited to money market mutual funds, a broker-dealer, salesperson, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative shall make reasonable efforts to obtain information concerning:

(a) The customer’s financial status;
(b) The customer’s tax status;
(c) The customer’s investment objectives; and
(d) Such other information used or considered to be reasonable by the broker-dealer, salesperson, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative in making recommendations to the customer.

If you have questions about a state securities law, The White Law Group may be able to help. Please call 888-637-5510 for a free consultation.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington. With over 30 years of securities law experience, The White Law Group has the expertise to help investors defrauded in securities, investment and financial business transactions.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.