The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced it will be ramping up action against misleading adverts throughout 2025.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed that it took action against almost 20,000 financial promotions last year, which were then amended or withdrawn as part of a wider enforcement drive against scam complaints.
A total of 19,766 finance-related promotions were dealt with by the regulator in 2024, a rise of 97.5% compared to 2023. Concerns were raised around crypto assets, debt solutions, and claims management company (CMC) promotions.
As part of the FCA’s targeted action, some 9,197 CMC promotions were withdrawn last year alone, mostly relating to housing disrepair and motor finance claims targeted at vulnerable consumers. It also issued 2,240 warnings about unauthorised or potentially scam firms in 2024.
Commenting on the figures, 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 at consumers.”
The FCA has recently tightened the rules around financial promotions, most notably through the introduction of the Section 21 Gateway, meaning firms are now required to obtain FCA permission before approving promotions for unauthorised individuals.
Adopting a tougher stance on unlawful promotions, the UK financial watchdog introduced new Consumer Duty rules last year to strengthen customer protection. While designed to safeguard consumers, these measures have also driven up compliance costs for firms, prompting the regulator to consider potential adjustments.
Social media platforms have also been the subject of greater regulatory focus, with the FCA urging companies to do more to proactively identify and prevent illegal financial promotions. In October 2024, it launched an investigation into so-called ‘finfluncers’ with 20 individuals being interviewed under caution. Using special criminal powers, FCA officials spoke with the unnamed finfluencers voluntarily, while also issuing 38 alert warnings against social media accounts which were believed to contain unlawful promotions.
The UK’s main regulator has been proactive in exercising its powers of oversight, recently issuing a £99,200 fine on CFD broker Infinox for failing to submit thousands of transaction reports over a six-month period between October 2022 and March 2023.
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