FSA to simplify financial advertising regulations

The body will remove 'many product-specific rules, which currently mandate the inclusion of specified information in promotions'. In some cases, the FSA admitted, this leads to the inclusion of irrelevant detail.

'This means focusing on the outcomes that matter, rather than on procedural box-ticking,' said director of retail policy Dan Waters. 'It is an approach that fits with the emphasis we place on senior management responsibility.'

But the advertising industry believes that the revisions do not go far enough. 'Although any simplification is welcomed, the rules are still too complicated,' said Marina Palomba, legal director of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

Advertisers are also annoyed that the FSA is not planning to offer them advice on what is acceptable in their copy.

Palomba pointed out that while there is a helpline that advises consumers on how to complain, there is nothing for advertisers seeking counsel.

The new Conduct of Business rules are under consultation and will come into force in November 2007.

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