Fair dealing in advertising

15 March 2018

Fair dealing in advertising: guidance for crowdfunding and peer- to-peer lending published

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) today published guidance on fair dealing in advertising and communications for licensed crowdfunding services, peer-to-peer lenders and the companies that offer financial products on these platforms.

The guidance follows a review by the FMA of how service providers and the companies that use them advertise their businesses. The review examined whether promotional material met our ‘fair dealing’ expectations.

The review was not in response to complaints, but reflects the FMA’s view that this sector is a newly licensed population and it is prudent for the FMA to examine how these services are marketed.

The fair dealing provisions of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 ban:

• misleading and deceptive conduct
• false or misleading representations
• unsubstantiated representations
• offers of financial products in the course of unsolicited meetings.

The guidance applies to licensed crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platforms, and companies that offer financial products through these platforms. The guidance sets out the FMA’s expectations for marketing and promoting these offers and platforms to consumers.

Garth Stanish, FMA Director of Capital Markets said, “This guidance has been provided to assist a new area of financial services and to ensure our requirements are understood. Care should be taken when comparing products and services, and to ensure a balanced message about risk and returns is presented.”

A copy of the guidance can be found here

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