MEMA Guides / Financial promotions
Financial promotions: a practical guide
What counts as a financial promotion, the rules for each sector, how to handle social media and approver arrangements, and a workflow, checklists and 90-day plan that keep every promotion defensible.
- 19,766promotions amended or withdrawn after FCA intervention with authorised firms in 2024Source
- 7 Feb 2024the date an authorised firm needed FCA permission to approve promotions for unauthorised persons, unless an exemption appliesSource
- 20finfluencers interviewed under caution by the FCA in 2024, with 38 alerts on finfluencer accountsSource
The guide in 30 seconds
Practical guidance- 01The rules follow the productEvery sector has its own chapter, but the test is the same: fair, clear, not misleading, and understood by the people it reaches.
- 02You answer for what others postIf an affiliate or creator posts your referral link, the FCA may treat you as having caused the promotion.
- 03Approval is a continuing dutySigning off is the start. Monitoring, attestations and withdrawal are where approvers are tested.
Explore the chapters
Read them in order, or jump to the one you need.
01What counts as a financial promotion, and who may communicate or approve oneA financial promotion is wider than an advert. Before any rule about wording applies, you need to know whether the restriction in section 21 catches the message, and who is allowed to send it.
02The standard and the sector rulesEach sector has its own financial promotions chapter. All of them rest on the same idea: fair, clear and not misleading, judged by what the typical recipient will understand.
03The Consumer Duty, social media and finfluencersThe Duty asks whether the people who see a promotion understood it. Social media is where that question is hardest, because the audience, the format and the sender are all outside your control.
04High-risk investments and cryptoassetsFor the investments the FCA treats as highest risk, the rules go beyond wording. They set the risk warning, ban incentives, add a pause and check suitability. Cryptoassets follow the same model.
05Approving for others, and building the workflowApproving someone else's promotion makes you answerable for it, and since 7 February 2024 you need FCA permission. Whether you approve for others or only for yourself, the same workflow, evidence log and withdrawal process make it defensible.
06What the FCA sees, and a worked exampleThe FCA's own numbers show growing intervention on promotions. Then an invented payments firm takes one social campaign through approval, first weakly, then well.
07Checklists and a 90-day planUse the pre-approval list for every promotion, the social post list for every creator asset, and the plan to bring your control framework up to standard in a quarter.
Chapter 01 · The starting point
What counts as a financial promotion, and who may communicate or approve one
A financial promotion is wider than an advert. Before any rule about wording applies, you need to know whether the restriction in section 21 catches the message, and who is allowed to send it.
Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) is the base rule. A person "must not, in the course of business, communicate an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity". FG24/1 explains this covers far more than investment services. "Communicate" includes causing a communication to be made, so whoever commissions a message can be caught as well as whoever posts it.
Three lawful routes exist. The sender is an authorised person; the content is approved by an authorised person; or an exemption in the Financial Promotion Order 2005 (FPO) applies. Since 7 February 2024, section 21(2A) adds that an authorised person may approve only if section 55NA permission or an exemption allows it. Communications from abroad are caught if capable of having an effect in the UK.
Two different failures: illegal and non-compliant
Illegal promotion
- Communicated in breach of section 21, such as an unauthorised influencer's unapproved post
- A criminal offence (section 25): up to two years' imprisonment on indictment, or a fine, or both; defences exist
Non-compliant promotion
- Lawfully communicated, but breaks the FCA's rules, such as an obscured risk warning (FG24/1 para 2.7)
- Dealt with through supervision, requirements and fines
| Who | May communicate? | May approve for others? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorised person | Yes, within FCA rules | Only with section 55NA permission, or an exemption | Applies when approving for unauthorised persons |
| Unauthorised business or influencer | Only if approved or an FPO exemption applies | No | Commercial interest can make it 'in the course of business' |
| Appointed rep., group company or registered crypto business | AR or group company: under the approver's approval. Crypto firm: under its own route (chapter 4) | No (COBS 4.10.3G: a registered person cannot approve) | No permission needed to approve ARs' or group companies' promotions (chapter 5) |
Chapter 02 · What the Handbook asks for
The standard and the sector rules
Each sector has its own financial promotions chapter. All of them rest on the same idea: fair, clear and not misleading, judged by what the typical recipient will understand.
For investments, COBS 4.2.1R(1) says a firm "must ensure that a communication or a financial promotion is fair, clear and not misleading". The other sourcebooks use the same test with their own additions. Check the chapter for each product you promote, not only your main permission, because one campaign can fall under several.
| Sector | Chapter | Core rule | A detail worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investments | COBS 4 | COBS 4.2.1R: fair, clear and not misleading | COBS 4.2.5G: 'guaranteed', 'protected' or 'secure' only if fair and with the necessary information given prominently |
| Consumer credit | CONC 3 | CONC 3.3.1R: clear, fair and not misleading | CONC 3.3.3R: never state or imply credit is available regardless of circumstances or status |
| Payments and e-money | BCOBS 2 | BCOBS 2.2.1R: take reasonable steps to be fair, clear and not misleading | BCOBS 2.3.7BR: currency transfer cost comparisons must be fair and substantiated |
| Insurance | ICOBS 2.2 | ICOBS 2.2.2R: clear, fair and not misleading | ICOBS 2.2.4G: pricing claims should match what most responders will get |
| Mortgages | MCOB 3A | MCOB 3A.2.1R and 3A.2.4R: fair, clear and not misleading | MCOB 3A.3.1R: say where credit is secured on the home |
The sector rules in practice
CONC 3.3.1R(1A) sets tests that go beyond wording, including:
- Clearly identifiable as a promotion
- Accurate and balanced, with no benefit stressed without a fair and prominent indication of relevant risks
BCOBS 2 applies to providers communicating payment service or electronic money promotions (BCOBS 2.1.3A).
- Include the provider's name (BCOBS 2.3.1A); a trading name is fine if customers can identify the provider
- Do not stress benefits without a fair and prominent indication of relevant risks
MCOB 3A has the most prescriptive content of the five.
- For MCD regulated mortgages that show a rate or cost figures, MCOB 3A.5.1R requires standard information, the APRC and a representative example
- A representative example needs a reasonable expectation that at least 51% of responders who take the product are charged the APRC or below (MCOB 3A.5.1R(3))
Chapter 03 · Understanding, not just wording
The Consumer Duty, social media and finfluencers
The Duty asks whether the people who see a promotion understood it. Social media is where that question is hardest, because the audience, the format and the sender are all outside your control.
PRIN 2A.5 is the Consumer Duty's consumer understanding outcome. It applies to firms involved in producing, approving or distributing retail customer communications, including where a firm "produces, approves or distributes financial promotions", and to social media (PRIN 2A.5.1R). Communications must meet retail customers' information needs, be likely to be understood and equip them to decide, and be clear, fair and not misleading (PRIN 2A.5.3R). BCOBS 2.1.1G says the Duty applies to payment and e-money institutions for those services.
Firms should take proactive responsibility for how their affiliate marketers communicate financial promotions.
That is FG24/1 paragraph 3.18. Paragraph 3.19 goes further: where an affiliate posts your referral link and you did not write or control the content, the FCA may still consider that you are causing the communication, and you would be liable for its compliance. Paragraph 4.13 asks approvers to consider whether an influencer's audience is likely to include people with characteristics of vulnerability.
Chapter 04 · Where the rules are strictest
High-risk investments and cryptoassets
For the investments the FCA treats as highest risk, the rules go beyond wording. They set the risk warning, ban incentives, add a pause and check suitability. Cryptoassets follow the same model.
PS22/10 (August 2022) organised high-risk investments in COBS 4 around Restricted Mass Market Investments (RMMIs), which may be mass marketed to retail clients if conditions are met, and Non-Mass Market Investments (NMMIs). The package strengthened risk warnings, banned inducements to invest, introduced positive frictions, improved client categorisation and tightened appropriateness tests. It also required firms communicating promotions to have competence in the product.
How the rules arrived
- 1 Aug 2022PS22/10 publishedFinal rules for high-risk investments and for firms approving promotions.
- 1 Dec 2022Main risk warning rules take effectThe risk warning rules had effect from this date.
- 1 Feb 2023All other PS22/10 rules take effectThe remaining measures in the package.
- 8 Oct 2023Cryptoasset promotion regime startsQualifying cryptoassets are treated as RMMIs under PS23/6.
| Measure | Rule | What the workflow must hold |
|---|---|---|
| Risk warning | COBS 4.12A.10R and 4.12A.11R | The prescribed warning for the investment type, kept prominent in every version |
| No incentives | COBS 4.12A.7R | A check that no referral bonus, gift or cashback appears, whatever the reason for it |
| 24-hour pause | COBS 4.12A.18R | For a direct offer promotion requested by a retail client: wait at least 24 hours, then invite them to leave or proceed |
| Records | COBS 4.11.5R and 4.11.7R | Client categorisation evidence and appropriateness assessment outcomes, kept for 5 years |
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
That is the prescribed warning for non-readily realisable securities (COBS 4.12A.11R(1)(a)). The rule gives different warnings for peer-to-peer agreements, long-term asset fund units and qualifying cryptoassets. Use the version for your investment type, word for word. For NMMIs, COBS 4.10.3G(5) says the COBS 4.12B rules prevent a firm approving a promotion for retail clients unless an exemption applies.
The four routes come from the FCA's September 2023 announcement of the rules, in force from 8 October 2023 for firms wherever they are based. The FCA said continuing to promote cryptoassets to UK consumers without complying might be a criminal offence punishable by an unlimited fine and/or up to two years' imprisonment. FG23/3 sets its expectations. Crypto promotions are RMMI promotions, so the warning, incentive ban, pause, categorisation and appropriateness elements apply.
Chapter 05 · The section 21 regime in practice
Approving for others, and building the workflow
Approving someone else's promotion makes you answerable for it, and since 7 February 2024 you need FCA permission. Whether you approve for others or only for yourself, the same workflow, evidence log and withdrawal process make it defensible.
Section 55NA FSMA says an authorised person "must not approve the content of a communication for the purposes of section 21 unless the person has permission to do so given by the FCA". The FCA's reason in PS23/13: it had seen too many non-compliant promotions approved by authorised persons and then communicated by unauthorised persons. You need no permission to approve your own promotions, your appointed representatives' promotions for regulated activities you are responsible for, or promotions of unauthorised persons in your corporate group.
An approval's life, and what the rules require at each stage
Stage 1 of 4
1. Competence
A firm must not communicate or approve a promotion unless the people responsible for compliance have appropriate competence and expertise in the investment or service (COBS 4.10.9AR). If you lack it, have another firm confirm compliance, or decline.
- Map approvers to product types
Stage 2 of 4
2. Confirm
Before approving for communication by an unauthorised person, confirm that the promotion complies with the rules (COBS 4.10.2R(1)). You cannot approve a personal visit, call or other interactive dialogue (COBS 4.10.4R).
- Review the exact asset, not a draft
Stage 3 of 4
3. Monitor
While the promotion runs, take reasonable steps to monitor its continuing compliance (COBS 4.10.2R(1A)), and require a written quarterly attestation of no material change, the first within no less than 3 months of approval (COBS 4.10.2R(1B)-(1C)).
- Diarise attestations
Stage 4 of 4
4. Withdraw
If you become aware it no longer complies, withdraw approval and notify anyone you know is relying on it as soon as reasonably practicable (COBS 4.10.2R(2)). If you cannot obtain an attestation, consider withdrawing (COBS 4.10.3AG).
- Have a withdrawal notice template
Two points trip firms up. The monitoring duty survives the loss of permission (COBS 4.10.1BG(3)): the firm could withdraw approval but could not approve amendments. And the FCA's 2024 data says the gateway assessment is not a formality, that approvers must notify the FCA about approvals, amendments or withdrawals involving high-risk products under the retail mass-marketing ban or qualifying cryptoassets, and that they file a regulatory return every six months (REP024).
A seven-step approval route
1. Brief
One form: product, audience, channel, claims, creator and dates. No brief, no review.
2. Classify
Compliance sets the regime: sector rules, high-risk or crypto rules, the Duty, and whether anyone unauthorised will communicate it.
3. Evidence
Every claim, number and comparison has a source on file before review.
4. Review
Check the exact asset: standalone compliance, prominence, rendering by channel and audience understanding.
5. Sign off
A named approver with the right competence signs the final version; record the date.
6. Publish and watch
Publish only the approved version, then monitor live content, complaints and response data.
7. Amend or withdraw
Any change returns to step 4. A trigger list says when to pull it.
| Case | Period | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Pension transfer, pension conversion, pension opt-out or FSAVC | Indefinitely | COBS 4.11.1R(3)(a) |
| Life policy, occupational pension scheme, SSAS, personal or stakeholder pension scheme | Six years | COBS 4.11.1R(3)(b) |
| MiFID or equivalent third country business | Five years | COBS 4.11.1R(3)(c) |
| Any other case within COBS 4.11.1R | Three years | COBS 4.11.1R(3)(d) |
| Non-real time promotions of qualifying credit, home reversion and sale and rent back | One year from last communication | MCOB 3A.9.1R |
What the evidence log should hold for each promotion
- The exact asset as published, with channel, date and version
- The brief, audience and vulnerability considerations
- Sources for every claim, rate and comparison
- The route or exemption relied on, and why
- Reviewer's reasoning, approver's name and approval date
When something goes wrong: a withdrawal playbook
Pull it
Pause or take down the live promotion first. If you approved it, ICOBS 2.2.3R(2) and COBS 4.10.2R(2) require you to withdraw approval and notify those relying on it as soon as reasonably practicable.
Tell the right people
Notify creators and partners. If another firm's communication in your chain is failing customers, PRIN 2A.5.14R requires prompt notification.
Find the cause and close the loop
PRIN 2A.5.10R(2): investigate, then correct the communication and, if needed, the product or process. Identify affected customers, record the incident and report to the senior manager.
Questions to answer before applying to approve, or before renewing the arrangement
- Which product types would we approve, and who has demonstrable competence in each?
- How do we monitor what clients actually publish, not just what they sent us?
- Who attests, who reads the attestation and what do we do if one is missing?
Chapter 06 · Evidence and illustration
What the FCA sees, and a worked example
The FCA's own numbers show growing intervention on promotions. Then an invented payments firm takes one social campaign through approval, first weakly, then well.
Authorised firms. The FCA's figures count promotions across platforms for cases closed in the period and can change if work with a firm continues.
The FCA's figures count promotions across platforms for cases closed in the period and can change. In 2024, 46 authorised claims management companies accounted for 9,197 of the 19,766 (46%). Its proactive reviews, including 411 social media promotions across 21 firms reviewed after FG24/1, resulted in 1,633 amended or withdrawn (8%). The latest annual dataset we found covers 2024, so use the figures for direction and check for later releases before quoting them.
| What went wrong | What the FCA did | Lesson |
|---|---|---|
| A debt counselling firm did not say that free debt help exists, promoted unrealistic write-off percentages and used its FCA status on a website offering only unregulated services | Voluntary requirements; promotions removed; systems and controls reviewed | Do not trade on regulated status where the service is not regulated |
| Unauthorised influencers promoted an unauthorised trading scheme | Seven influencers pleaded guilty to issuing unauthorised promotions and were sentenced in February 2026: fines between £600 and £3,750, or a discharge, plus costs | The fines were modest, but these were criminal proceedings with costs and public naming |
The creators' posts carry the firm's referral link and are paid for by it. Under FG24/1 paragraph 3.19 the FCA may consider the firm is causing the communication and hold it liable, even if it did not write the content. BCOBS 2 applies, and the Duty applies to payment services (BCOBS 2.1.1G).
The same campaign, run two ways
Weak version
- Creators write their own captions with the referral link
- 'No fees' and 'save up to 80%' with no evidence on file
- The saving relies on a rate most customers will not get
- 'Safe and protected' with no explanation
- Key terms behind a link or cut off; verbal OK, no record, no checks after launch
Strong version
- Brief, contract and approved scripts only
- Substantiation file: named comparators, dates, typical transaction, full cost
- Headline limited to what a typical customer gets
- 'Protected' removed or fairly explained
- Key terms in the video and caption; named sign-off, evidence log, weekly checks, pull trigger
| Problem | Rule or guidance | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Creators write their own captions with the firm's referral link | FG24/1 paragraphs 3.19 to 3.22: the firm may be causing the communication and should oversee affiliates | Contract, approved scripts only, monitoring, termination right |
| 'Save up to 80% against banks' with no evidence | BCOBS 2.3.7BR: comparison must be fair and balanced, and substantiated | Substantiation file; compare like with like; cap the claim to what is typical |
| Saving depends on a rate most customers will not get | BCOBS 2.2.5A: presenting a rate that a typical transaction is unlikely to obtain is likely to mislead | Show a rate and saving that a typical customer would see |
| 'Safe and protected' with no explanation | BCOBS 2.2.5G: do not use 'guaranteed', 'protected' or 'secure' unless the term is a fair description and the necessary information is given prominently | Remove it, or explain the safeguarding position with prominence |
Chapter 07 · Put it to work
Checklists and a 90-day plan
Use the pre-approval list for every promotion, the social post list for every creator asset, and the plan to bring your control framework up to standard in a quarter.
Pre-approval checklist
- Is the route lawful: authorised sender, approval within permission, or a recorded exemption?
- Which sector rules apply to every product mentioned?
- Is it fair, clear and not misleading read on its own, without the link, with benefits balanced by prominent risks?
- Is every claim, number and comparison evidenced on file?
- Is it right for the audience, including vulnerable customers, and tested where appropriate?
- High-risk or crypto: prescribed warning, no incentives, pause, categorisation, appropriateness?
- Does it show the firm's name and any required approval details?
- Has a competent named person signed the exact final version?
- Are monitoring, a review date and a withdrawal trigger recorded?
Social media post checklist
- Marked clearly as an advert, including paid and affiliate content
- Risk and cost information is in the creative, not only the caption
- Nothing important is cut off by 'see more'; each platform checked
- Works standalone if the link is never clicked
- Works across all frames of stories and short video
- Creator has the approved script, cannot edit it, has accepted the terms
- No unapproved comments, pinned posts or hashtags making claims
- No incentive, urgency or guarantee language the rules do not allow
Illustrative example Not FCA figures. Use your own.
Where this comes from
Sources
Every number and rule in this guide comes from these pages. Check them before you rely on anything, as rules change.
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, section 21
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, section 25
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, section 55NA
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005
- FCA Handbook COBS 4: Communicating with clients, including financial promotions
- FCA Handbook COBS 4.2: Fair, clear and not misleading communications
- FCA Handbook COBS 4.10: Approving and confirming compliance of financial promotions
- FCA Handbook COBS 4.11: Record keeping, financial promotion
- FCA Handbook CONC 3.3: The clear, fair and not misleading rule and general requirements
- FCA Handbook BCOBS 2: Communications and financial promotions
- FCA Handbook ICOBS 2.2: Communications to clients and financial promotions
- FCA Handbook MCOB 3A: Financial promotions and communications with customers
- FCA Handbook PRIN 2A.5: Consumer Duty, consumer understanding
- FCA PS23/13: Introducing a gateway for firms who approve financial promotions
- FCA: Approving financial promotions
- FCA FG24/1: Finalised guidance on financial promotions on social media
- FCA FG24/1 (PDF): Finalised guidance on financial promotions on social media
- FCA PS22/10: Strengthening our financial promotion rules for high-risk investments and firms approving financial promotions
- FCA: FCA clamps down on marketing of high-risk investments to consumers
- FCA PS23/6: Financial promotion rules for cryptoassets
- FCA: FCA sets expectations ahead of incoming crypto marketing rules
- FCA CP26/15: Reviewing the financial promotions rules for consumer credit
- FCA: Financial promotions data 2024
- FCA: Financial promotions quarterly data 2024 Q4
- FCA: Influencers fined for issuing unauthorised financial promotions
This guide is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. Rules and FCA expectations change; check the sources and take advice on your firm's circumstances.