For those PDFophobes like me, here are the key points:
SECTION A: GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Principles Applying to all Advertising
1. The nature or type of the advertised product or service to which the
advertisement relates must be clear.
2. The name of the credit institution must be clearly shown in the advertisement.
3. Credit institutions are obliged to ensure that the advertisement:
(a) is fair and not misleading; and
(b) where applicable, includes the disclosures set out in these Advertising
Requirements.
4. The advertisement must not give any false or misleading indications in relation
to:
(a) the credit institution’s independence;
(b) the credit institution’s scale of activities;
(c) the extent of the resources of the credit institution;
(d) the advertised product or service the credit institution intends to provide;
(e) the nature of the credit institution’s and any other person’s involvement
in the advertised product or service;
(f) the scarcity of the advertised product or service concerned; or
(g) past performance or possible future performance of the advertised product
or service.
5. Any statement, promise or forecast must be fair and not misleading at the time it is made and if it is based on assumptions, such assumptions must be stated.
6. The design and presentation of a printed advertisement should allow it to be
easily and clearly understood. Where footnotes are used they should be of
sufficient size and prominence to be easily legible; where appropriate they
should be linked to the relevant part of the main copy.
7. An advertisement should always be designed and presented in such a way that
any reasonable person would recognise it as an advertisement and would not
mistake it for a news item, or an article or other piece of reporting, produced by
the publishers or broadcasters whose medium is used to publish the
advertisement.
8. Any statements made or risk warnings given in an advertisement must not be
obscured or disguised in any way by the content, design or format of the
advertisement.
9. An advertisement should not set out to mislead consumers or potential
consumers about any matter likely to influence their attitudes to the advertised
product or service or the credit institution either by inaccuracy, ambiguity or
omission.
10. Advertisements should be prepared with care and with the conscious aim of
ensuring to a reasonable standard that consumers or potential consumers
understand the commitment which may arise in responding to that
advertisement.
11. A credit institution must not, when advertising in the form of personal
canvassing, exert in or through an advertisement undue pressure or undue
influence on a consumer in order to induce him:
(a) to purchase, sell or retain an advertised product or service ; or
(b) to exercise, or refrain from exercising, any right conferred by an
advertised product or service .
12. A credit institution licensed by the Bank must refer to its regulatory status in an advertisement. Such reference must take the following form :
[Name of credit institution] is licensed by the Central Bank of Ireland.
A credit institution operating in Ireland under the provisions of the Second
Banking Co-Ordination Directive, must refer to its regulatory status in any
advertisement in Ireland either in accordance with the requirements of its home
regulatory authority or alternatively in the following form:
[Name of credit institution] is licensed by the [Name of Regulator].
SECTION B: ADVERTISING REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE
TO INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
Guarantees
1. The advertisement must not describe an investment product as guaranteed or
partially guaranteed unless:
(a) there is a legally enforceable agreement with a third party who undertakes
(i) in the case of a full guarantee to meet, in full, an investor’s claim
under the guarantee, or
(ii) in the case of a partial guarantee to meet, to whatever extent is stated
in the advertisement, the investor’s claim under the guarantee;
(b) the advertisement gives details about both the guarantor and guarantee
sufficient for an investor to make a fair assessment about the value of the
guarantee; and
(c) where it is the case, the advertisement states that the guarantee is from
another legal entity within the same group as the credit institution.
Recommendations/Commendations
2. Any recommendations/commendations quoted must be:
(a) a complete or a fair representation;
(b) accurate and not misleading at the time of issue; and
(c) relevant to the investment product or investment business service
advertised.
3. A recommendation/commendation may not be used without the consent of the
author and, if that person is an employee of the credit institution, or of another
legal entity within the same group as the credit institution, the advertisement
must state that fact.
Comparisons or Contrasts
4. Comparisons or contrasts must:
(a) be based either on facts verified by the credit institution, which should be
held on file and available for examination, or on assumptions stated within
the advertisement;
(b) not mislead;
(c) be presented in a fair and balanced way; and
(d) not omit anything which could reasonably be considered material at the
time of issue to the comparison or contrast.
Related Investments
5. Where the credit institution knows or ought reasonably be expected to know
that it:
(a) has or may have a position or holding in the advertised investment
product or in a related product; or
(b) is providing or has provided within the previous 12 months significant
investment advice or investment business services in relation to the
advertised investment product or a related product,
it must include a statement to this effect in the advertisement.
Past Performance
6. Any information about the past performance of the investment product or of the
credit institution must:
(a) be relevant to the performance of the investment product or of the credit
institution;
(b) be a fair and not misleading representation of the past performance of the
investment product or of the credit institution;
(c) not be selected so as to exaggerate the success or disguise the lack of
success of the investment product or of the credit institution;
(d) state the source of the information;
(e) be based on actual performance;
(f) indicate, where applicable, the amount of transaction costs, interest and
taxation which have been taken into account; and
(g) state, where applicable, the basis upon which the performance is quoted
(for example, offer to offer, offer to bid).
7. Any advertisement which contains information on past performance must also
contain the following warning:
“Past performance may not be a reliable guide to future performance”.
Simulated Performance
8. Any information about the simulated performance of the investment product or
of the credit institution must:
(a) state that the figures are based on the simulated performance of the
investment product or of the credit institution;
(b) be relevant to the performance of the investment product or of the
credit institution;
(c) be a fair and not misleading representation of the simulated
performance of the investment product or of the credit institution;
(d) not be selected so as to exaggerate the success or disguise the lack of
success of the investment product or of the credit institution;
(e) state the source and method of calculation; and
(f) indicate whether, and to what extent, transaction costs, interest and
taxation have been taken into account.
9. Any advertisement which contains information on simulated performance
must also contain the following warning :
“Simulated performance may not be a reliable guide to actual or
future performance”.
Taxation
10. If the advertisement contains any reference to the impact of taxation, it must:
(a) state the assumed rate of taxation;
(b) state, where applicable, that the tax reliefs are those currently applying,
and state that the value of the tax reliefs referred to in the advertisement
apply directly to the investor, to the provider of the product or service or
to the fund in which the investor participates, as appropriate;
(c) state, where applicable, that the matters referred to are only relevant to a
particular class or classes of investor with particular tax liabilities,
identifying the class or classes of investor and the type of liabilities
concerned;
(d) state who has the responsibility for obtaining the tax benefits advertised;
(e) not describe the investment product as being free from any liability to
income tax unless equal prominence is given to a statement, where
applicable, that the income is payable from a fund from which income tax
has already been paid; and
(f) not describe the investment product as being free from any liability to
capital gains tax unless equal prominence is given to a statement, where
applicable, that the value of the investment product is linked to a fund
which is liable to that tax.
Unusual Risks
11. Each advertisement must adequately explain any unusual risks involved.
Fluctuations
12. Where the investment product can fluctuate in price or value, the advertisement
must contain the following warning :
“Investments may fall as well as rise in value”.
13. Where the return on an investment product is not set until a particular date, for
example, the maturity date of the investment, this must be clearly stated.
High Volatility Products
14. Where an advertisement relates to an investment product which may be subject
to sudden and large falls in value (i.e. high volatility products), the
advertisement must state this, and, if it is the case, that the investor could lose
the total value of his initial investment.
Products Carrying Contingent Liability
15. Where an advertisement relates to an investment product in which the investor
may not only lose all of the amount originally invested or deposited, but may
also have to pay more later, the advertisement must warn of this fact in a
prominent position.
Investment Income
16. Where an investment product is described as being likely to yield income or as
being suitable for an investor particularly seeking income from his investment
and where the income from the investment product can fluctuate, the
advertisement must contain the following warning :
“Income may fluctuate in accordance with market conditions and taxation
arrangements.”
17. Where investors are offered the facility of a planned withdrawal from capital as an income equivalent, the credit institution must ensure that the effect of such a
withdrawal upon the investment product is clearly explained in the
advertisement.
Foreign Currency
18. Where an investment product is denominated in a currency other than that of
the country in which the advertisement is issued, the advertisement must
contain the following warning :
“Changes in exchange rates may have an adverse effect on the value,
price or income of the product.”
Not Readily Realisable Investments
19. An advertisement for an investment product which is not a readily realisable
investment must state that it may be difficult for investors to sell or realise the
investment product and/or obtain reliable information about its value or the
extent of the risks to which it is exposed.
20. An advertisement for an investment product which cannot be encashed prior to
maturity must clearly state that this is the case.
Funds Comprising Not Readily Realisable Assets or Property
21. An advertisement for a fund which invests more than 20 per cent. of its assets in assets for which there is no ready market2 or in property or which refers to the
fact that a fund may be so invested must state that the value of the assets is a
matter of an independent expert’s opinion and the assets may be difficult to sell
even at that value.
22. Where an advertisement for a fund which invests more than 20 per cent. of its
assets in assets for which there is no ready market or in property or which refers
to the fact that a fund may be so invested, is in respect of a fund which is openended or partially open-ended (by providing for limited/reduced rights), the advertisement must state that the assets may be difficult to sell and there may be times when the units cannot be redeemed.
Front-End Loading and Redemption Charges
23. An advertisement for an investment product subject to front-end loading must
state that deductions for charges and expenses are not made uniformly
throughout the life of the investment, but are loaded disproportionately onto the
early years, and the investor must be warned that, if he withdraws from the
investment in the early years, the practice of front-end loading will impact on
the amount of money which he receives and that he may not get back the
amount he has invested.
24. An advertisement for an investment product subject to charges which arise
only on the redemption of that product (redemption charges) must state that
deductions for charges and expenses are not made uniformly throughout the life
of the investment, but are loaded disproportionately at the redemption of the
investment, and the investor must be warned that this will impact on the amount
of money which he receives and that he may not get back the amount he has
invested.
Cancellation
25. Where cancellation rights apply:
(a) the advertisement must state that upon cancellation the investor may not
obtain a full refund of the amount invested or the return achieved, if this is
the case; and
(b) if the advertisement relates to an investment product whose value may be
subject to sudden and large falls in value (i.e high volatility investments),
the advertisement must state, if it is the case, that the shortfall in the
amount recovered by the investor on cancellation may be sizeable relative
to the amount invested.
Forecasts or Projections
26. Where an advertisement contains any forecast or projections, whether of
specific growth rate or of a specific return or rate of return, or some other factor,
it should make clear the basis upon which that forecast or projection is made,
explaining for instance:
(a) whether reinvestment of income is assumed;
(b) whether, and to what extent, account has been taken of the incidence of
any taxes or duties and if so, how; or
(c) whether the forecast or projected rate of return will be subject to any
deduction either upon premature realisation or otherwise.
Direct Offers
27. A direct offer advertisement must give information about the investment
product concerned and the terms of the offer and the risks involved.
28. A direct offer advertisement must include sufficient information upon which
the investor can base his investment decision.
29. Where a direct offer advertisement invites members of the public to respond by
returning a response coupon, the full name and address of the credit institution
must be contained in the advertisement, separate from the response coupon.
