7.3.6. Communications with the Public and Promotional Material
Communications with the public must not be fraudulent or deceitful. Nor should they employ high-pressure tactics or claims that futures trading is appropriate for all persons. This includes communications of all kinds, including day-to-day communications and promotional material.
Day-to-day communications are spontaneous communications that respond to a person’s needs and concerns. Promotional material is any material written in advance and distributed to the public to solicit a futures account or transaction. Promotional material is any standardized report, letter, circular, memorandum, or publication. It includes any text of a standardized oral presentation; any communication for publication in a newspaper or magazine; or for broadcast over television, radio, or other electronic medium. See below for examples of promotional material from the NFA.
The NFA holds persons responsible for deceptive day-to-day communications when statements are deliberately intended to mislead or are made recklessly. It holds them responsible for deceptive promotional material if they should have been able to recognize the statements as likely to deceive the public. More specifically, promotional material may not:
- • Contain any material misstatement of fact or knowingly omit a fact if the omission makes the promotional material misleading
- • Mention the possibility of profit unless accompanied by an equally prominent statement of the risk of loss
- • Include any reference to actual past trading profits without mentioning that past results are not necessarily indicative of future results
- • Include any numerical or statistical informatio