The FCA recently released financial promotions data and there’s been a sharp uptick in the number of promotions withdrawn or amended following FCA intervention. In 2022 there were 8,582 financial promotions withdrawn or amended, compared to 573 in 2021 (source: FCA financial promotions data).

It’s clear this is an area of increased scrutiny and we’ve heard anecdotally from some firms that the FCA’s been in contact on specific financial promotions more frequently than in the past. Therefore, all firms should ensure they are compliant with FCA financial promotions requirements and with the Consumer Duty imminent, consider what changes may be necessary to internal processes and procedures to ensure promotions not only meet the existing ‘clear, fair and not misleading’ requirements but also the new standards under the consumer understanding outcome and the wider spirit of the Consumer Duty.

Particular areas for firms to look at include the use of social media and communications relating to the cost of living challenges. For more information, please click here.

AMI’s also aware that Meta (Instagram and Facebook), TikTok, Twitter and Bing have all changed their policies to permit only FCA authorised firm to market financial services. This follows in the footsteps of Google. Firms that advertise via any of these platforms should, as appropriate, refer to:

• Meta verification policy.
• TikTok advertising policy.
• Twitter policy.
• Microsoft verification policy.

AMI wanted to bring this to the attention of our members as we do not feel it has been reported as widely as the Google verification changes.