On August 6, 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") launched a consultation setting out its proposed approach to financial promotions in social media. The FCA considers that firms need to think about how their financial promotions can be fair, clear and not misleading regardless of the means used and also to consider how image advertising can be used. In addition, the FCA is seeking views on how firms, in using social media, can meet the specific financial promotion requirements such as: (i) ensuring that financial promotions for investment products are identified as such; (ii) ensuring that each communication, including a tweet or webpage, complies with the rules; and (iii) ensuring that the required risk warnings are included in promotions. The consultation is open until November 6, 2014.
The consultation paper is available at: http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/guidance-consultations/gc14-06.pdf.
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