Many of the FCA rules around firms’ websites are those related to financial promotions. Not every website is a financial promotion but the FCA Handbook states:

“The test for whether the contents of a particular website may or may not involve a financial promotion is no different to any other medium. If a website or part of a website, operated or maintained in the course of business, invites or induces a person to engage in investment activity or to engage in claims management activity, it will be a financial promotion.”

In general, ATEB would expect a typical adviser website to be a financial promotion and so the overarching requirement of financial promotions that they should be clear, fair and not misleading applies, along with several other FCA rules and guidance of which more shortly.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also imposes a number of legal requirements on what can and cannot be published on a UK website, in particular around the use of online reviews. And the Advertising Standards Authority code of rules also have something to say on the matter although many of these rules do not extend to the content of a website itself beyond the clear, fair and not misleading principle.

Primary references
Direct reference to and familiarity with the key aspects of the following rules and guidance will be of value in ensuring your website is compliant … or you can just ask ATEB!

The Data Protection Act 2018 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) are also relevant so the Information Commissioner’s Office website is also a useful point of reference.

What does this all mean in practice?
The outcome of all these related rules and guidance is that firms should review their websites against each of the following aspects.

Note that there are additional requirements for websites that facilitate sales of products but those are not within the scope of this article.