Two very interesting ASA rulings today. Same mistake.
ChartPrime describes itself as trading software. Finelo calls itself an educational platform with a trading simulator. Neither saw itself as a financial firm, so their Facebook ads were never checked as financial ads.
The ASA Disagreed
If an ad talks about trading, profit and returns, it's a financial ad. Both companies were found to be "misleading on risk" and "exploiting inexperience and credulity".
Both were upheld for missing out the risk warnings, implying quick money with little risk, and exploiting inexperienced consumers. Finelo was also found to have misled people about what its product actually is.
Proactive, Not Reactive
The ASA found these with its own AI monitoring, not from a complaint. Regulators are already using AI to find problems. Your compliance process should be using it to stop them.
The Solas Compliance team