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2.3.1 General Provisions for Responsible Advertising

C 8/2020 STA Effective from 25/12/2020
  1. 2.3.1.1This Section must be read in conjunction with Article 5: Business Conduct of these Standards.
  2. 2.3.1.2Licensed Financial Institutions must apply these Standards to any Advertising activity through any and all channels, including branches, websites, mobile applications, ATMs, telephone banking, account statements, social media and public media comprised of any form of audio, visual and print content.
  3. 2.3.1.3All advertisements must be available in both Arabic and English. At the discretion of the Licensed Financial Institution, other languages can be chosen based on the Consumer target market. Where advertisement is targeted to one linguistic market, Licensed Financial Institutions can target and tailor the advertisement for that linguistic market.
  4. 2.3.1.4An advertisement by the Licensed Financial Institution must:
    1. a.Be accurate, honest and understandable and not be misleading or contrary to actual factual information. An advertisement is misleading if, in any way, its presentation deceives or is likely to deceive the Person to whom it reaches;
    2. b.Highlight key information and, display it prominently;
    3. c.Ensure that all information, including footnotes, qualifiers, or disclaimers, is clearly visible, legible and understandable;
    4. d.Ensure any footnotes, qualifiers, or disclaimers in Advertising are prominently and clearly displayed and of a font size that is clearly readable by Consumers;
    5. e.Ensure that all written text and numbers are of a sufficient font size, minimum 10; and
    6. f.Not contain any false statement of fact, or conceal important facts or information that may be deceptive or create a false impression.
  5. 2.3.1.5An advertisement must be designed and presented in a manner that allows Consumers to immediately identify it as promotional material.
  6. 2.3.1.6Where Licensed Financial Institutions advertise or promote any Financial Product and/or Service, they must disclose the name and logo of the Licensed Financial Institution and its contact details in a prominent manner in the advertisement. The advertisement must also provide the means and manner of easily accessing the details of any qualifying criteria the Consumer will need to meet before obtaining the Financial Product and/or Service. Where the full information is provided through a link on a Digital Channel, the link must provide the ability to re-direct Consumers specifically to the qualifying criteria relevant only for that advertisement/financial promotion.
  7. 2.3.1.7Licensed Financial Institutions must ensure that Advertising or promotional material which contains acronyms (e.g. APR) clearly states the full form of the acronym.
  8. 2.3.1.8When contacting or meeting Consumers, Licensed Financial Institutions’ sales and Advertising/marketing Staff must clearly identify themselves and the Licensed Financial Institution being represented.
  9. 2.3.1.9Pursuant to 2.3.1.8 above, Licensed Financial Institutions must ensure that Advertising/marketing Staff explain the key terms, benefits and risks of the financial product being offered to Consumers.
  10. 2.3.1.10Where Licensed Financial Institutions use advertisement or promotional material that:
    1. a.Advertises any kind of bonus, gifts, points or any other incentives, such advertisement must clearly present and convey information that is required by these Standards to be disclosed. For special financial promotions, contests etc., all rules, entry instructions, dates or deadlines and factors likely to influence Consumers’ understanding of the financial promotion must be clearly stated and advertisements must explain these requirements accurately, unambiguously and completely. If it is not practical, for valid reasons, to include all such details in the advertisement, then the means, manner and channel of directly accessing the full information must be included in all material featuring the financial promotion;
    2. b.Offers introductory low/zero cost Fees, interest/profit rates or pricing, Licensed Financial Institutions must clearly state the expiry date or the specific time period of such an offer and what the regular amount of Fees, interest/profit or pricing will revert to on expiry;
    3. c.Advertises offers of interest/profit rates with terms such as “rates as low as” on credit/financing facilities or deposit/investment rates advertised as “rates as high as”, Licensed Financial Institutions must also state in clear and plain language the conditions, assumptions and chances of the Consumer receiving the lowest interest/profit rate on credit/financing or the highest rate for deposits or investments; and
    4. d.Describes a Financial Product and/or Service as ‘free’, the Financial Product and/or Service must in its entirety be free of all Fees and/or interest/profit rates. If the financial product and/or service is ‘free’ for a certain time period, the advertisement must prominently disclose that the Financial Product and/or Service will not be free upon conclusion of the time period. The Consumer will be advised 30 calendar days in advance before being subject to the amount of expected Fees or the application interest/profit rates. The material must disclose if the product and/or service can be cancelled after the offer had been accepted by the Consumer. If cancellation is possible, disclose how to cancel and the Fees or penalties which apply.
  11. 2.3.1.11Where Licensed Financial Institutions advertise or promote any Financial Product and/or Service that will require the payment of Fees, they must disclose the details of the fees in the advertisement. If it is not practical, for valid reasons, to include the fees in the advertisement, Licensed Financial Institutions must include:
    1. a.An explanation of the means and manner of easily accessing the information in that advertisement; and
    2. b.Where the complete information is provided through a link on a Digital Channel, the link must provide the ability to re-direct Consumers specifically to the terms and conditions or fees relevant only for that advertisement/financial promotion and that specific product and/or service. Key information must be prominently displayed. When the Fee is not a set amount, the disclosure must provide the basis on which the Fee is determined.
  12. 2.3.1.12Advertising material must include statements to warn Consumers of the consequences of a Consumer’s failure to meet the conditions and requirements before and during his/her relationships with Licensed Financial Institutions. If it is not practical, for valid reasons, to include this information in the advertisement, Licensed Financial Institutions must apply the condition stated in Clause 2.3.1.11.b.
  13. 2.3.1.13Licensed Financial Institutions must ensure that where advertisement materials include an Annual Percentage Rate, the rate must clearly be labelled as an Annual Percentage Rate and inclusive of all related Fees. It must clearly state if the interest/profit rate is fixed or variable. In the case of a fixed interest/profit rate, the tenor of the fixed interest/profit rate must be displayed. It must state any conditions on which the advertised rate is based upon.
  14. 2.3.1.14Where Licensed Financial Institutions have a relationship with a Third Party provider for a particular Financial Product and/or Service, the Licensed Financial Institutions must disclose this fact in all advertisements for the advertised Financial Product and/or Service.
  15. 2.3.1.15If advertisement material contains a statement, promise or forecast based on assumptions, Licensed Financial Institutions must ensure those assumptions are reasonable, up to date with market trends and clearly disclosed and labelled as assumptions in the advertisement.
  16. 2.3.1.16Advertisements promoting the potential returns of a financial product must state that the forecast is for illustrative purposes only and is not indicative or construed as likely returns. A warning statement must be prominently displayed beside any statement regarding potential returns that states the potential risks of a loss as well. Any statement or forecast must not mislead at the time it is made.
  17. 2.3.1.17Where the Advertising material does not refer to the benefits or returns but only names the Financial Product and/or Service and/or invites a Consumer to discuss the Financial Product and/or Service in more detail, a Licensed Financial Institution need not display the related warning statements required by Section 2.3 of Article 2: Disclosure & Transparency of these Standards.
  18. 2.3.1.18Where the warning statements required by these Standards do not cover the Licensed Financial Institution’s products and services, the Licensed Financial Institution must devise their own with respect to raising awareness of potential risks associated with the product or service.