Short, sharp, on point
Consequently, there is a tension between what the FCA is saying firms should do, what a firm’s product development team might want to do, and what firms are actually able to do. The FCA standard requirement that all financial promotions have to be “clear, fair and not misleading” must always prevail, so the challenge for firms will be in making their communications briefer and more innovative, while still including all necessary and appropriate disclosures and disclaimers.
While the scope of this article is necessarily brief, it seems likely, given the FCA’s stated aspirations in the finalised guidance and the discussion paper, and the subsequent debate among firms, that the FCA’s follow-up to this initiative will likely do the following:
- Include further guidance on how short communications, videos or slideshows, which might be embedded in another communication, may be able to incorporate links to websites etc, where the relevant detail, full product description and legal disclaimers are all provided;
- Re-emphasise brevity and plain English, particularly in the T&Cs, which the FCA is concerned about (since it appears most consumers do not read them); and
- Require communications to be prepared with the target audience’s needs in mind. Ultimately, all firms issuing financial promotions must take great care to ensure that all communications they send out are compliant with FCA requirements – even if they are brief. A perennial challenge.
