Over the past year, the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has decided to block more than 8 thousand advertisements and marketing campaigns that somehow mislead consumers.
Source: Pixabay.com
The number of ad blockages recorded by the results of last year is 14 times higher than the result of the similar activity of the regulator in 2021.
The blockages affected those companies that distribute partially false or completely unreliable information about the activities of firms providing financial products, investors, and traders. The regulator stops the spread of unfair advertising using a special financial watchdog tool.
The FCA also appealed to major technology companies to make adjustments to advertising strategies in order to avoid blocking due to misleading consumers.
Currently, the regulator pays special attention to the removal of information from the public media space that can harm potential clients of various firms who are careless when making decisions within the framework of financial activity. A lack of scrupulousness when choosing financial services can make consumers victims of fraudsters operating in the field of online payments. Now this problem has worsened due to the cost of living crisis.
The British regulator plans to introduce stricter restrictive measures in the field of financial services advertising in the near future in order to prevent fraudulent activity in this industry.
ScamSmart, a company under the control of the regulator, participates in the development and implementation of the FCA’s strategy to inform consumers about fraudulent threats and misleading information.
Sarah Pritchard, who is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the markets at the FCA, said that the Management’s goal regarding marketing campaigns remains unchanged and is that advertising should not deceive. She noted that the regulator’s approach to achieving this goal has changed, and improved technologies are now being used.
Last year, the FCA announced its intention to expand the set of tools for checking the advertising campaigns of financial service providers in order to stop the dissemination of misleading information.
As we have reported earlier, FCA Accuses Three Money Transfer Companies of Price Fixing.
