The commissioner may, after appropriate notice and opportunity for hearing, by order censure, deny a certificate to, suspend for a period not exceeding 12 months or revoke the certificate of, any broker-dealer if the commissioner finds that the censure, denial, suspension, or revocation is in the public interest and that the broker-dealer, whether prior or subsequent to becoming a broker-dealer, or any partner, officer, director, or branch manager of the broker-dealer, whether prior or subsequent to becoming associated with the broker-dealer, or any person directly or indirectly controlling the broker-dealer, whether prior or subsequent to becoming such, or any agent employed by the broker-dealer while so employed has done any of the following:

(a) Has willfully made or caused to be made in any application for a certificate or in any report required to be filed with the commissioner under this law, or in any proceeding before the commissioner, any statement which was at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which it was made false or misleading with respect to any material fact, or has willfully omitted to state in the application or report any material fact which is required to be stated therein.

(b) Has been either (1) convicted of or has pled nolo contendere to a felony or misdemeanor, or (2) held liable in a civil action by final judgment of a court based upon conduct showing moral turpitude, and the commissioner finds that the felony, misdemeanor, or civil action (A) involved the purchase or sale of any security, (B) arose out of the conduct of the business of a broker-dealer or investment adviser, (C) involved theft, or (D) involved the violation of Section 1341, 1342, or 1343 of Title 18 of the United States Code.

(c) Is permanently or temporarily enjoined by order, judgment, or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction from acting as an investment adviser, underwriter, or broker-dealer, or as an affiliated person or employee of any investment company, bank, or insurance company, or from engaging in or continuing any conduct or practice in connection with that activity or in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.

(d) Is or has been subject to (1) any order of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the securities administrator of any other state denying registration to, or revoking or suspending the registration of, the person as a broker, dealer, agent, or investment adviser, (2) any order of any national securities association or national securities exchange (registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) suspending or expelling that person from membership in the association or exchange or from association with any member thereof, or (3) any other order of the commission or any administrator, association, or exchange referred to in this subdivision which is or has been necessary for the protection of any investor.

(e) Has willfully violated any provision of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Commodity Exchange Act, or Title 4 (commencing with Section 25000), including the Franchise Investment Law, Division 5 (commencing with Section 31000), or the California Commodity Law of 1990, Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 29500), or of any rule or regulation under any of those statutes, or any order of the commissioner which is or has been necessary for the protection of any investor.

(f) Is or has been subject to (1) any order of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission denying registration to, or revoking or suspending the registration of, that person under the Commodity Exchange Act, (2) any order of any board of trade or commodity exchange, including, but not limited to, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, or the Chicago Board Options Exchange, suspending or expelling that person from membership in the board of trade or commodity exchange or from association with any member thereof, or (3) any other order of the commission or any board or exchange referred to in this subdivision which is or has been necessary for the protection of any investor.

(g) Has willfully aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced, or procured the violation by any other person of any of the statutes or rules or regulations referred to in subdivision (e) above, or has failed reasonably to supervise, with a view to preventing violations of those statutes, rules and regulations, another person who commits a violation, if the other person is subject to his or her supervision; for the purposes of this subdivision, no person shall be deemed to have failed reasonably to supervise any person if (1) there have been established procedures, and a system for applying those procedures, which would reasonably be expected to prevent and detect, insofar as practicable, any violation by the other person, and (2) that person has reasonably discharged the duties and obligations incumbent upon him or her by reason of those procedures and system without reasonable cause to believe that those procedures and system were not being complied with.

(h) Is subject to any currently effective order of the commissioner entered pursuant to Section 25213 revoking or suspending the certificate of the person as an agent.

(i) Has violated any provision of this division or the rules thereunder or, in the case of an applicant only, any similar regulatory scheme of the State of California or a foreign jurisdiction.

(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 473, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2004.)