Section 139.16 - Sales to Individual Accredited Investors(a) In general. The State Securities Board, pursuant to the Securities Act, §5.T, exempts from the securities registration requirements of the Securities Act, §7, the offer and sale by the issuer or a registered dealer without advertising of any security to an individual accredited investor, or to any purchaser who the issuer has reasonable grounds to believe and after making reasonable inquiry shall believe to be an individual accredited investor, provided that such security is not part of the same distribution or offering as securities of the same issuer which have been registered or are proposed to be registered by pending application under the Securities Act, §7. "Advertising," as used in this subsection, does not include the use of limited use advertisements under subsection (e) of this section or the use of the type of printed material as permitted by § RSA 109.13(b) of this title (relating to Limited Offering Exemptions) in connection with an offering under the Act, §5.I.(b) Who may purchase; who constitutes the issuer for purposes of selling securities. (1) Individual accredited investors. The term "individual accredited investor" is defined in § RSA 107.2 of this title (relating to Definitions). For purposes of this section, the term "individual accredited investor" also includes any self-directed employee benefit plan with investment decisions made solely by persons that are "individual accredited investors" as defined in § RSA 107.2 of this title and the individual retirement account of any such individual accredited investor.(2) Issuer. For the purposes of subsection (a), the term "issuer" includes any director, officer, or employee of the issuer provided all the following conditions are satisfied: (A) the director, officer, or employee was not hired for the purpose of offering or selling such securities;(B) the director's, officer's, or employee's activity involving the offer and sale of such securities is strictly incidental to his or her bona fide primary non-securities related work duties; and(C) the director's, officer's, or employee's compensation is based solely on the performance of other such duties, i.e., the director, officer, or employee does not receive any compensation for offering for sale, selling, or otherwise aiding in the sale of securities.(c) Disqualifications. (1) No exemption under this section shall be available for the securities of any issuer if the issuer or registered dealer: (A) within the last five years, has filed a registration statement which is the subject of a currently effective registration stop order entered by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities administrator;(B) within the last five years, has been convicted of any felony in connection with the offer, purchase, or sale of any security or any felony involving fraud or deceit;(C) is currently subject to any state or federal administrative enforcement order, entered within the last five years, finding fraud or deceit in connection with the purchase and sale of any security; or(D) is currently subject to any order, judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, entered within the last five years, permanently restraining or enjoining such party from engaging in or continuing to engage in any conduct or practice involving fraud or deceit in connection with the purchase and sale of any security.(2) For purposes of this subsection and subsection (d) of this section only, the term "issuer" includes: (A) any of the issuer's predecessors or any affiliated issuer;(B) any of the issuer's directors, officers, general partners, or beneficial owners of 10% or more of any class of its equity securities (beneficial ownership meaning the power to vote or direct the vote and/or the power to dispose or direct the disposition of such securities);(C) any of the issuer's promoters presently connected with the issuer in any capacity, including: (i) any person who, acting alone or in conjunction with one or more other persons, directly or indirectly takes initiative in founding and organizing the business or enterprise of an issuer; or(ii) any person who, in connection with the founding and organizing of the business or enterprise of an issuer, directly or indirectly receives in consideration of services or property, or both services and property, 10% or more of any class of securities of the issuer or 10% or more of the proceeds from the sale of any class of such securities; however, a person who receives such securities or proceeds either solely as underwriting commissions or solely in consideration of property shall not be deemed a promoter within the meaning of this clause if such person does not otherwise take part in founding and organizing the enterprise; or(D) any underwriter of the issuer.(3) For purposes of this subsection and subsection (d) of this section only, the term "registered dealer" includes any of the registered dealer's partners, directors, executive directors, or beneficial owners of 10% or more of any class of its equity securities (beneficial ownership meaning the power to vote or direct the vote and/or the power to dispose or direct the disposition of such securities).(d) Exceptions from disqualifications. The prohibitions of subsection (c) of this section shall not apply if: (1) the party subject to the disqualification is duly licensed or registered to conduct securities related business in the state in which the order, judgment, or decree creating the disqualification was entered against such party; or(2) before the first offer under this section, the Securities Commissioner, or the court or regulatory authority that entered the order, judgment, or decree, waives the disqualification upon a showing of good cause.(e) Limited use advertisements. Any limited use advertisement used in connection with an offering under this section must be filed with the Securities Commissioner ten days prior to use in this state. A limited use advertisement may be disseminated by any means, direct or indirect. A limited use advertisement shall contain only the statements required or permitted to be included therein by this subsection. (1) A limited use advertisement shall contain the following items of information: (A) a brief description of the securities to be offered (e.g., description of class, size of offering, price, percentage of commission);(B) the name, address, and telephone number of the person to contact for additional information concerning the offering;(C) the address where offering material may be obtained; and(D) the following statement: "The securities have not been registered with or approved by the Texas Securities Commissioner and are being offered and sold pursuant to the exemption provided by §139.16 of the Rules and Regulations of the State Securities Board. This advertisement was filed with the Texas Securities Commissioner on or about (fill in date). The securities are being offered to, and may be purchased by, only those natural persons whose individual net worth, or joint net worth with that person's spouse, at the time of purchase of the securities, exceeds $1 million, excluding the value of the person's primary residence, or natural persons who have an individual income in excess of $200,000 in each of the two most recent years, or joint income with that person's spouse in excess of $300,000 in each of those years, and who have a reasonable expectation of reaching that same income level in the current year."(2) A limited use advertisement may include any one or more of the following items of information: (A) the name and address of the issuer of the securities;(B) a brief description of the business of the issuer; and(C) the name and address of the registered dealer(s) acting on the issuer's behalf in connection with the offering.(f) Any issuer relying on this exemption shall, upon written request, furnish to the Securities Commissioner the information furnished by the issuer or registered dealer to offerees. Any issuer relying on this exemption must maintain, for a period of at least three years, evidence of the basis for its belief that all purchasers were accredited investors at the time of purchase.(g) Transactions exempt under this section may be combined with offers and sales exempt under the Securities Act, §5.H, and § RSA 109.4 of this title (relating to Securities Registration Exemption for Sales to Financial Institutions and Certain Institutional Investors). In this event, the statement required by subsection (e)(1)(D) of this section may be modified to indicate that the securities are also being offered to eligible purchasers under §5.H and § RSA 109.4 of this title (relating to Securities Registration Exemption for Sales to Financial Institutions and Certain Institutional Investors).(h) Because this exemption permits limited use advertisements, use of this exemption under certain circumstances could result in other exemptions not being available for other sales due to prohibitions in such exemptions against public solicitation and advertisements. Therefore, issuers or registered dealers who use this exemption should take all necessary steps to document that any sales to persons who are not individual accredited investors, as defined, were not made in response to a limited use advertisement. Users of this section should consult with experienced securities counsel, especially if they anticipate selling, within six months of the last sale made under this section, to any persons who are not individual accredited investors.(i) The use of a limited use advertisement in compliance with this section and in connection with sales under this section will not render exemptions that prohibit public solicitation or advertisements unavailable to sales that are made more than six months after the use of the limited use advertisement.(j) Should the offer and sale of securities fail, for any reason, to comply with all the terms and conditions for use of this section, the issuer may claim the availability of any other applicable exemption. A limited use advertisement that results in an offer to a person who is not an individual accredited investor within the meaning of this section does not alone result in loss of the exemption.(k) Investment intent; resales. The issuer and any person acting on its behalf shall exercise reasonable care to assure that the purchasers are acquiring the securities as an investment. Such reasonable care should include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) having reasonable grounds to believe and, after making reasonable inquiry, believe that the purchaser is acquiring the securities with investment intent for his or her own account or on behalf of other persons and not for resale or with a view toward distribution;(2) placing a legend on the certificate or other document evidencing the securities to the effect that the securities have not been registered under any securities law and setting forth or referring to the restrictions on transferability and sale of the securities;(3) issuing stop transfer instructions to the issuer's transfer agent, if any, with respect to the securities, or, if the issuer transfers its own securities, making a notation in the appropriate records of the issuer; and(4) obtaining from the purchaser a signed written agreement to the effect that the securities will not be sold without registration under applicable securities laws or exemptions therefrom.7 Tex. Admin. Code § 139.16
The provisions of this §139.16 adopted to be effective April 21, 1995, 20 TexReg 2622; amended to be effective December 27, 1995, 20 TexReg 10593; amended to be effective July 14, 2005, 30 TexReg 3990; amended to be effective January 8, 2006, 30 TexReg 8869; amended to be effective June 21, 2011, 36 TexReg 3715; amended to be effective November 8, 2012, 37 TexReg 8787