Context
The FCA has published its latest quarterly financial promotions data, which analyses the latest information (from 1st April 2022 to 30th June 2022) from the FCA’s action against authorised firms breaching financial promotion rules and referrals and investigations into unregulated activity. The details include examples of FCA interventions and about how the FCA acts in relation to the issues it finds.
Key points to note
- In 2022 Q2, and in relation to authorised firms, the FCA reviewed 451 promotions from multiple sources.
- FCA engagement and interventions with 24 authorised firms resulted in 374 amends/withdrawals
- 58% of these related to website or social media promotions
- Two Voluntary Applications for Imposition of Requirements (VREQs) were approved, restricting the firms’ ability to communicate or approve financial promotions
- Retail investments and retail lending are the sectors with the highest amend/withdraw outcomes, amounting to 83% of FCA interventions with authorised firms
- Some of the most common breaches involved credit brokers, mortgage intermediaries and investment platforms
- In 2022 Q2, the FCA issued 286 alerts about unauthorised firms and individuals, with 22% of these related to clone scams
- The FCA issued a Dear CEO letter warning almost 28,000 lenders and brokers to stop using misleading terms in their advertising or face regulatory action.
Next actions
None- for information and awareness.