PIMFA, the trade association for wealth management, investment services and the personal investment and financial advice industry, welcomes the news today (3 February 2023) that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has blocked four times more misleading financial promotions in 2022 than a year earlier.
But we continue to call for the Regulator to have a greater role alongside Ofcom in preventing online fraud on social media platforms and search engines under the provisions set out by the Online Safety Bill.
David Ostojitsch, Director of Government Relations and Policy at PIMFA, commented: “We welcome the news that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has blocked four times more misleading financial promotions in 2022 than compared with the year before. It is vital that the public is protected from online fraud, and the devastating impact it can have on people's lives. It is also good to see the Regulator working with ‘Big Tech’ firms to reform their advertising policies. But, as the FCA says, more must be done by search engines and social media platforms to protect the public from fraud.
“Provisions contained within the Online Safety Bill to place a duty of care on social media platforms to remove harmful content will help to build on the progress made. However, this does shine a light on some of the shortcomings within the Bill, namely that Ofcom, rather than the FCA, will be charged with defining what is and what is not harmful content. We would encourage all parties to consider how the FCA can take a greater role in identifying harmful content as outlined in the Bill.”
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