Changes to UK Code of Broadcast Advertising relating to unregulated investments

The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), author of the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (the BCAP Code), has announced that following a consultation, it was introducing changes to Section 14 of the BCAP Code (Financial products, services and investments) to clarify the scope of its restriction of advertisements (ads) for unregulated investments to specialised financial channels and programming. The BCAP Code includes a rule that restricts ads for certain types of complex financial products to specialised financial channels, stations and programming, meaning that such ads cannot be broadcast on mainstream TV or radio to a general audience. The amendment is intended to clarify the scope of the existing restriction on ads for investments unregulated by the FCA, to ensure that it applies in practice to unregulated "investments" that meet the likely consumer understanding of that term. It will remove the risk of what is seen as an inadvertent application of the restriction to unregulated products that technically fall within the definition of investment activity set out within the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as reflected in the Code section), but that are not in line with a layperson's understanding of an investment, and that are not compatible with the type of risky financial products from which restrictions were intended to protect general broadcast audiences. The changes take effect immediately, but BCAP are mindful of the need to avoid unintended consequences of amending the wording of rules and to ensure that changes are effective. As such, the amended rules will be subject to review after 12 months.

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