The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has highlighted Google’s new advertising rules regarding the promotion of financial products.

In a speech delivered today, ASIC Deputy Chair Karen Chester said that over the last few months, ASIC has met regularly with digital platforms including Google, to discuss advertising of financial products.

Karen Chester said:

“And so we welcome Google’s initiative, announced last week, to implement a new advertising policy that will require advertisers who want to promote financial products and services in Australia to demonstrate they are licensed by ASIC”.

In essence Google will expand to more markets the verification process that it put in place in the UK last year, via the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Australia, Singapore and Taiwan are the first additional jurisdictions where the new policy will be enforced from 30 August.

Financial services advertisers in Australia will need to demonstrate that they are authorised by ASIC, and have completed Google’s verification program, in order to begin promoting their products.

Karen Chester added that ASIC has work under way on the next phase of its 2020 ‘True to Label’ initiative, which examined whether managed fund labels misled consumers about the funds’ characteristics and underlying assets. That work found confusing and inappropriate product labels across 14 cash funds with under $7 billion in assets, as well as a significant mismatch between redemption features and liquidity of underlying assets in three funds with under $1 billion in assets.

ASIC also took enforcement action against fund managers for misleading or false advertising – and one example is ASIC’s Federal Court win against Mayfair 101.