ASIC has published draft updates to Regulatory Guide 234 Advertising financial products and services (including credit): Good practice guidance (RG 234), which was last updated in 2012.
The proposed updates:
- Add examples that reflect regulatory and enforcement action that ASIC has taken since 2012 in relation to advertising conduct (such as returns, features and benefits, warnings, disclaimers, qualifications and fine print, and fees and costs),
- Add reference to Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Latitude Finance Australia in relation to disclaimers,
- Include examples of advertisement media to include social media and streaming,
- Add reference to “finfluencers,” including a reference to INFO 269: Discussing financial products and services online,
- Incorporate guidance from Regulatory Guide 53, The use of past performance in promotional material (RG 53) to ensure all of ASIC’s advertising guidance is in one location,
- Add a definition of ‘annual percentage rate’ and detail explaining the meaning of annual percentage rates, and
- Simplify and streamline the existing guidance.
If you found this article helpful, then subscribe to our news emails to keep up to date and look at our video courses for in-depth training. Use the search box at the top right of this page or the categories list on the right hand side of this page to check for other articles on the same or related matters.
Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
Email:
About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.
