Nearly 20,000 financial promotions were withdrawn or amended in 2024 following intervention from the FCA – nearly double the amount in 2023.
The regulator has highlighted concerns with cryptoasset, debt solutions, and claims management company (CMC) promotions. 9,197 CMC promotions were withdrawn in 2024. Many of these promotions were related to housing disrepair and motor finance claims targeted at vulnerable consumers.
The FCA continues to urge social media platforms to do more to proactively identify and prevent illegal financial promotions. Last year, the FCA launched targeted action against ‘finfluencers’, resulting in 20 people being interviewed under caution.
Lucy Castledine, Director of Consumer Investments at the FCA, said:
‘Over the past year, we have seen a growing number of misleading and illegal financial promotions. We have stepped up our efforts in response to make sure that financial promotions are clear, fair, and accurate.
‘We expect firms to take the necessary steps to meet standards and will continue to work with other bodies, including social media platforms, to prevent illegal promotions being pushed to consumers.’
The FCA has strengthened rules around financial promotions, including the introduction of the Section 21 Gateway, which now requires firms to obtain FCA permission before approving promotions for unauthorised persons.
The FCA also issued 2240 warnings about unauthorised or potentially scam firms in 2024.
