Banking Association Reviews Advertising Review Organization... Review Manual to Be Prepared in Q3 (Comprehensive)

Follow-up Measures After the Announcement of Financial Advertising Regulation Guidelines

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The Korea Federation of Banks is considering establishing an organization to review financial advertisements. This is a follow-up measure following the creation of the ‘Financial Advertising Regulation Guidelines,’ which specifically outline the scope of financial advertisement regulations. The aim is to prevent financial consumers from suffering damages caused by advertisements through prior advertisement review.

According to the financial sector on the 9th, the Korea Federation of Banks began organizing a financial advertisement review body at the 3rd meeting of the Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA) Implementation Task Force held the previous day, following the establishment of the financial advertisement regulation guidelines. According to the new guidelines, financial product sellers must undergo internal review before advertising and may receive prior review from the federation. Financial product sellers should also reflect the federation’s advertisement review standards and pointed-out cases in their internal control standards related to advertisements.

The federation can notify the Financial Services Commission if violations of the FCPA laws are found in the content or methods of advertisements during prior review. However, while other financial sector associations have advertisement review bodies, the Korea Federation of Banks and the National Credit Union Federation of Korea currently do not have such organizations.

A representative from the Korea Federation of Banks explained, "Until now, unlike other financial sector associations, the federation has not performed advertisement review functions, so we are considering organizing a review body based on the new guidelines. We will first analyze the applicable targets and number of cases under the new guidelines and proceed after consulting with member banks."

The Korea Federation of Banks plans to prepare and distribute an advertisement review manual for member companies to refer to before the end of the FCPA grace period on September 24. Separately, to prevent consumer damages caused by financial advertisements, a false and exaggerated advertisement reporting center will be established within the year. The federation, along with other financial sector associations, will form a financial sector advertisement self-regulation consultative body in the second half of the year to ensure there are no unfair differences in advertisement review standards across sectors and to maintain communication channels.

What is included in the Financial Advertising Regulation Guidelines?

Meanwhile, the FCPA strictly limits advertisements by persons other than financial product sellers. First, the scope of advertisement regulation under the FCPA is divided into ‘advertisements related to financial products’ and ‘advertisements related to the work of financial product sellers and financial product advisors.’

Press releases with advertising content about financial products or services posted on publicly accessible spaces such as websites are considered advertisements. Broadcasts that directly or indirectly provide information about financial products of specific financial product sellers are also financial product advertisements. Broadcasts introducing services of specific financial product sellers or financial product advisors to induce financial transactions also fall under business advertisements.

Online portals and fintech (finance + technology) companies must register as financial product sellers if their role is not merely as ‘advertising media’ but as ‘advertising entities’ actively involved in the financial product sales process. When advertising financial products through online media such as blogs or YouTube, it is also required to indicate that the advertisement has been directly confirmed by the seller.

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