"Broadcasts Providing Financial Information Also Considered Advertising"…Financial Advertising Regulation Guidelines Established

"Checking Even Bloggers' and YouTubers' Undisclosed Advertisements"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Financial authorities have established guidelines for financial advertising regulations in line with the enforcement of the Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA) and decided to verify covert advertisements by bloggers and YouTubers to prevent financial consumers from suffering advertising damages.

On the 8th, the Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, and financial industry associations held the 3rd meeting of the FCPA Implementation Task Force and prepared the 'Financial Advertising Regulation Guidelines' as explanatory materials regarding frontline opinions on advertising regulations raised after the law's enforcement.

First, the scope of advertising regulation under the FCPA was divided into 'advertisements related to financial products' and 'advertisements related to the business of financial product sellers and financial product advisors.'

If advertising press releases related to financial products or business are posted on publicly accessible spaces such as websites, they can be considered advertisements. Additionally, broadcasts that directly or indirectly provide information about financial products of specific financial product sellers can also be regarded as financial product advertisements. Broadcasts introducing the services of specific financial product sellers or financial product advisors to induce financial transactions also fall under business advertisements.

The FCPA strictly limits advertisements by persons other than financial product sellers. Online portals and fintech companies must register as financial product sellers if their role is not as an 'advertising medium' but as an 'advertising entity' actively involved in the sales process.

Financial product sellers, etc., must undergo internal review before advertising, and depending on the industry, may also need to obtain prior review from associations if necessary. Financial product sales agents and brokers must obtain confirmation from the direct sellers of the relevant financial products when advertising those products.

In particular, when advertising through online media such as blogs and YouTube, it is required to indicate that confirmation from the direct seller has been obtained. To prevent covert advertising issues in advertisements via YouTube, blogs, and other online media, the recently revised 'Guidelines on Display and Advertising of Recommendations and Endorsements' by the Fair Trade Commission must also be followed.

The items enumerated in the FCPA regulations to be included in advertising content can be flexibly managed within the scope that does not undermine the regulatory purpose, considering the purpose of the advertisement and the characteristics of the advertising medium. For example, online banner and popup ads, given their limited advertising space, may divide the advertising content across linked web pages.

Financial product sellers, etc., should reflect advertising-related internal standards in their internal control standards by referring to association review criteria and pointed-out cases.

A financial authority official stated, "Going forward, to ensure continuous efforts to purify advertising within the financial sector, each industry association has agreed to regularly share and disclose major advertising review cases through a financial sector advertising self-regulation consultative body," adding, "By sharing each association's advertising review standards and cases through the consultative body and disclosing key cases to be cautious about, we expect to secure the rationality of advertising regulations while mitigating regulatory risks in the market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.