Financial and Investment Products and Services Code

Preamble

The ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) Code of Advertising and Commercial Communications contains general provisions recognised by all professionals: article 1 – Basic principles, article 4 – Honesty and article 5 – Truthfulness

Before any advertisement is published, it is advisable to ensure, depending on the financial product(s) being promoted, that :

• The professionals are on the list of players authorised to carry out banking, financial, electronic money and payment services activities, available on the REGAFI (Register of Financial Agents) website (https://www.regafi.fr)
• The insurance, banking and financial intermediaries referred to are listed on the Orias website (https://www.orias.fr), which is the sole register of insurance, banking and financial intermediaries.
• AMF-approved Undertakings for Collective Investment (UCIs) are listed in the AMF’s GECO database (https://geco.amf-france.org/Bio/rech_opcvm.aspx).

You should also consult ;

• the blacklists of the ACPR (Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution) for sites or entities offering unauthorised credit, savings books, payment services or insurance contracts in France.
• the blacklists published by the AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers) on its website or on the AMF Protect Epargne website, for websites or entities offering unauthorised financial investment services in France.

To encourage compliance with these principles, the industry has established rules for advertising the “financial and investment products” defined below.

These rules apply without prejudice to the provisions of the ARPP Recommendation on Digital Advertising as well as the various practical information sheets, particularly the one relating to communication by influencers and brands.

Scope of application

This Recommendation applies to advertising:

• which are broadcast, whatever their forms and formats and whatever the broadcast medium used, aimed at consumers;
• whose purpose is to communicate one or more of the following products or services: savings (bank passbooks, other than regulated savings accounts, for which remuneration is entirely unrestricted), investment services involving financial instruments (in particular shares, bonds, units or shares in UCIs, SOFICAs, SCPIs, etc.) and life insurance, which includes multi-support contracts with a capital-guaranteed euro fund and units of account with a risk of capital loss (UCITS, shares, securities, property, structured funds, ETFs, etc.);
• relating to training or advisory services linked to products falling within the scope of the Recommendation.

The following general rules do not apply to :

• credit and savings products with regulated interest rates (Livret A, Livret jeune, Livret bleu, Livret d’épargne populaire, Livret de développement durable, Plan d’épargne populaire, compte et plan d’épargne-logement, Livret d’épargne-entreprise, etc.).
• deposit accounts.
• payment methods and services

This Recommendation does not apply to the advertising of leveraged financial products and contracts, allowing exposure to forex, stock market indices or commodity prices with or without leverage, to the advertising of so-called atypical investments and to the advertising of crypto-assets, for which two separate Recommendations exist [1] .

These rules are designed for the average consumer, i.e. one who is normally informed, reasonably attentive and well-informed.

These rules apply except in cases where legislation, regulation, industry standards or rules laid down by the supervisory authorities impose other specific provisions.

I – GENERAL RULES APPLICABLE TO ALL PRODUCTS OR SERVICES COVERED BY THIS CODE

1.1 Identification of advertising

Advertising must be clearly and unambiguously distinguishable as such, irrespective of the form and medium used. When an advertisement is broadcast in media that also include news or editorial articles, it must be presented in such a way that its advertising character is instantly apparent

1.2 Identification of the advertiser and guarantor.

The advertiser behind the advertisement must be clearly identified or identifiable by any means. Where the format, technique or advertising medium does not allow the identification of the advertiser to be included in the advertising itself, it may be made directly accessible by any means.

The French supervisory authorities [2] may only be cited in advertising if permitted by and in compliance with the regulations in force. Such quotations must not be presented in an abusive or misleading manner and must not give the impression of approval or endorsement.

1.3 Identifying the nature of the product or service being advertised

The nature of the product or service may be identified by any means. Generic terms may be used to designate the nature of the product or service, provided that they are not misleading or confusing, and except where the rules of positive law require the use of precise and/or specific terms.

2. Social responsibility

As a reminder, ” All marketing communications should be prepared with a due sense of social and professional responsibility ” under the terms of Article 1 of the International Chamber of Commerce Code relating to advertising and commercial communications.

Thus, advertising for products or services falling within the scope of this Recommendation must not, whether in written, audio or visual form :

• minimise the risk of capital loss;
• present the use of these products or services as gambling, or draw an analogy between gambling and these products or services;
• promote, trivialise or encourage excessive use of these products or services, which could put the consumer in a difficult financial situation;
• Suggest that the use of these products or services will enable the consumer to earn a regular income or solve temporary or permanent financial problems;
• give the impression of excessive material wealth, abundance, disproportionate gains or returns, the possibility of making a fortune, of getting rich without work or effort.

Advertising must not denigrate savings products with regulated interest rates.

3. Protection of minors

Advertising for the products or services covered by this Recommendation should not be aimed directly at minors who are legally incapable of accessing or subscribing to them.

The direct or implied representation of minors using these products or services, even if accompanied by adult(s), or giving evidence about these products, is also excluded where minors are legally incapable of holding or subscribing to these products or services on their own.

II – RULES GOVERNING RATE PRSENTATION

The presentation of a rate, including promotional rates, depends on the nature of the financial service and respects the following principles.

1. General principles

The nature of the rate (gross or net) must be specified.

Where charges are inherent in the management of the product or service covered by this Recommendation, their existence must be clearly indicated.

It is recommended that the period of validity of the promotional rate, as well as any rectifying conditions such as the minimum investment amount, the charges and the investment ceiling, be indicated in the advertisement under the presentation conditions set out in point V- of this Recommendation, except in cases where legislative or regulatory texts impose specific presentation rules.

If the rate is valid only for the amount of the initial payment, this must also be specified.

When promotional information mentions a financial index, the information must not conceal certain essential information about the index (name of the index, nature, period observed, etc.).

2. Specific application depending on the nature of the financial product or service

For bank passbook accounts, the rate of interest indicated in an advertisement is expressed as the gross annual nominal rate, before social security and tax deductions, plus, where applicable, the annual nominal rate after flat-rate deductions [3] . Where fees are charged for managing the passbook account, the interest rate must be net of management fees and presented as such.

The remuneration of a term account is expressed as the gross annual actuarial rate of return, before social security and tax deductions. Where the advertisement is in writing, the remuneration may be expressed as the gross annual nominal rate, provided that it is supplemented by an indication of the frequency and amount of income paid.

This rate and this information must appear less prominently than the gross annual actuarial rate of return [4] .

In the case of life insurance policies, the rate of return highlighted is the annualised rate of return, net of management fees borne by the policy or the product promoted, before social security and tax deductions. [5]

III – RULES GOVERNING THE CLARITY OF PROMOTIONAL OFFERS

In the case of advertising promoting a promotional offer, the period of validity of the offer and the terms and conditions of the offer must be clearly specified in accordance with the conditions of presentation laid down in point V- of this Recommendation, except in cases where laws or regulations, sector standards or rules laid down by the supervisory authorities impose specific rules of presentation.

IV – RULES RELATING TO THE RISKS AND PAST PERFORMANCE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS [6] , UNIT-LINKED LIFE INSURANCE [7] , TERM ACCOUNTS AND STRUCTURED SECURITIES [8]

1. Presentation of the product or service risk

Where risks or potential losses [9] exist, advertising must not present the product or service in an unbalanced way by announcing gains as being virtually inevitable and by favouring scenarios that reflect only the most favourable assumptions.

The interest rate guarantee and the capital guarantee must be separate. It must also be specified whether the capital is guaranteed or not.

Where the guarantee relates to the capital, it must be stated that the capital is guaranteed, less costs.

If a period of time is required for the savings to become available, this must be stated.

Similarly, if there is a liquidity risk, i.e. the risk of not being able to sell the security before the maturity date, this must be mentioned

2. Past performance

Past performance must be identified, by any means, as “past” and it must be specified that it is not a guide to future performance.

Past performance is annualised, with an indication of the period over which it has been calculated.

The indication of past performance must not constitute the main element of the information communicated. The presentation should not be disproportionate to the other features.

The past performance reference period covering at least the last five years (or any other period if the product has been in existence for less than five years) and the source of the data must be clearly indicated. Where gross performance is indicated, the effect of commissions, fees and other charges should be specified. [10]

V – RULES GOVERNING THE LEGIBLE, AUDIBLE AND INTELLIGIBLE PRESENTATION OF ALL INFORMATION

The term “notices” refers to so-called legal notices (which are notices required by a positive legal text), corrective notices (which are those that restrict the meaning or scope of a tagline or claim) and informative notices.

With the exception of cases where laws or regulations [11] impose specific rules on the legibility, intelligibility and/or presentation of certain information, the following rules apply regardless of the medium and/or distribution format used.

• All notices must be legible or audible under normal reading and/or listening conditions and comply with the requirements of the Recommendation “Notices and footnotes” [12] .
• To ensure that the notices are legible under normal reading conditions, the typeface used for the notices must, in particular, be :
  • of sufficient size,
  • normally spaced,
  • in a font that is easy to read (although this font does not necessarily have to be uniform throughout the advertisement),
  • in a colour that contrasts with that used for the background of the advertisement. For example, a light colour should not be used for text written on a background that is also light.

The sign [13] used to refer to a linked statement must be large enough to be legible under normal reading conditions.

• In the case of rate-related corrections, these must also :

a/ either be written close to the heading in which the rate appears,

b/ be clearly linked to the heading by a sign. When they are added to other information, corrective information should preferably be distinguished from the other information by any means (use of bold, underlining, a different colour or size, etc.).

• Information must be intelligible.

The intelligibility of the information implies the use of wording that enables the consumer to understand it without difficulty and in a way that is not misleading.

VI – Rules on environmental claims and sustainable finance

Advertising of the products and services covered by this Recommendation must comply with all the provisions of the ARPP “Sustainable Development” Recommendation, which apply to all sectors of activity and to any product (good or service) that is the subject of advertising, regardless of the medium used to disseminate it.

The ecological argument must be based on objective, reliable, truthful and verifiable evidence.

The content of advertising may not make abusive use of an ecological argument. To this end, the principles of truthfulness, fairness, transparency, balance and proportionality must be respected in writing, orally and visually.

Among the terms used, “sustainable finance” takes into account “extra-financial” criteria, in addition to financial criteria, in the analysis, selection and management of investments [14] . The sustainability risk associated with investments in sustainable finance products must be presented.

Advertising must comply with the advertiser’s commitment to take account of extra-financial criteria – including the requirements set by the SRI label – and must be proportionate to this commitment.

Reference may be made to other ecological arguments or to the category of financial product or service to which it belongs, in accordance with the terms commonly accepted by legislators and regulators or those defined in the official label reference frameworks.

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July 2023.

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