Savings & Deposit Accounts

All advertisements must be approved by an “authorised person” (usually the compliance officer) as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). It is a criminal offence to broadcast these types of advertisements unless the contents of the final recorded advertisement have been signed off by this “authorised person”. Radiocentre flags this up on Script Clearance Forms with the following wording: “The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 requires that certain advertisements be approved by an authorised person within the meaning of the Act. This script approval is neither prejudicial to, nor does it replace, that requirement. A certificate of approval of the completed commercial by the authorised person must be submitted to each radio station. Radio stations should not broadcast the commercial without the approval certificate and this Radiocentre Script Clearance Form”

Claims about savings/interest must be backed by substantiation. Claims such as “Our savings account has the highest interest rates” will not be accepted unless detailed evidence can be provided.

Interest payable on savings must be factually correct and copy must qualify whether interest is gross or net of tax.

Building societies may make a reference to having no shareholders and being able to offer excellent deals but they are unlikely to be able to make a claim to the effect of “X building society offers better deals than public companies because we have no shareholders”.