ADVERTISING LAWS AND REGULATIONS

These rules and regulations are a guidance on advertising on our website and how to conduct business & adverts as well as what to adhere to.

We encourage honest ,genuine and realistic advertising on our platform anything that may be deemed misleading or misrepresentation will be taken down and reported to the relevant authorities.We want to make this platform as safe as possible for all users despite geographical locations,ethnicity ,gender or religious beliefs .World Wide Adverts will do its best to removed misleading adverts ,misleading information or misrepresenting details from the website but will not be held responsible for third party adverts that may affect users.We recommend verification of businesses or individuals before engaging in any financial transactions or partnerships.We will remove any adverts that we feel may be risky or inappropriate for other users .If you are worried or concerned about any advert do not hesitate to contact us with your concerns via email or within the website help or message section.By advertising on our website your agree to abide by our rules and regulations allowing world wide to alter or change your advert to meet required standards.You will also be agreeing to World Wide Adverts to use your advert as seen fit such as promotional use for the website and its partners and encouragement of the growth of the platform.World Wide Adverts is an advertising platform and will not be held for any transactional agreements between parties whether it be financial ,verbal or engagement of business. 

You must describe your product accurately. This means if you make a claim about your product, you must be able to prove what you say.

Prices

Your adverts must describe the actual cost accurately, including any ongoing or associated costs (like subscription fees) and taxes (such as VAT).

Example

A customer pays £50/US$50 a product, without being told the price does not include VAT. This was not explained in the advert, so the advert is misleading.

Direct marketing

You must check if customers want to be contacted by fax, phone, post or email, and give them the chance to object. You must be able to prove you’ve done this.

When you collect customer details, you must get their permission if you want to send them other offers or promotions.

You must also ask for their permission if you want to share their information with another organisation.

Letting customers opt out

Customers have the right to stop their information being used for direct marketing.

You must make it easy to opt out - for example by sending a ‘STOP’ text to a short number, or using an ‘unsubscribe’ link.

Telesales and fax marketing

You must say who you are when you make a telesales call, and give your address or phone number if you’re asked for it. The number for customers to call must be a freephone number.

You’re not allowed to send marketing faxes to individuals unless you’ve received their prior permission, but you can send unsolicited faxes to companies.

You must be able to prove that you’ve checked you’re not contacting anyone who does not want to be contacted.

Check who’s asked not to receive calls or faxes using the:

Automated calls

If you want to make automated calls - with pre-recorded phone messages - you must get the permission of the individual or business first.

Direct mail

Check that your mailing lists do not include anyone who’s asked not to receive direct mailing, using the Mail Preference Service.

Email marketing and text messages

You’re only allowed to send marketing emails to individual customers if they’ve given you permission.

Emails or text messages must clearly indicate:

  • who you are
  • that you’re selling something
  • what the promotions are, and any conditions

Check that you are not sending emails to anyone who’s asked not to receive them, using the Email Preference Service.

If you buy or rent a mailing list, ask the supplier if you have the right to use it for email marketing.

Every marketing email you send must give the person the ability to opt out of (or ‘unsubscribe from’) further emails.

You must tell customers if you add them to a list of people who do not want to be emailed.

Cookies

You must tell visitors to your website how your site uses cookies, and ask if they want to accept them.

The information should be easy to understand.

Find out more about cookies on the Information Commissioner’s Office website and AboutCookies.org.

Customers can complain if you misuse their information, and you could be ordered to pay a fine or compensation.


Advertising codes of practice

There are 2 advertising codes of practice that describe how businesses should advertise.

They cover all kinds of promotional communications, depending where the advert or promotion will appear.

Non-broadcast media

The CAP non-broadcast code has rules that cover non-broadcast advertising (for example print, online), sales promotion and direct marketing (such as telesales and email).

The code specifies standards for accuracy and honesty that businesses must stick to, including specific conditions, such as:

  • advertising to children
  • causing offence
  • political advertising

Broadcast media (for example TV, radio)

You must follow the CAP broadcast code, which covers issues including taste, decency and product placement.

As well as setting standards about accuracy and honesty businesses must stick to, they also have rules about things like scheduling.

General broadcasting rules

You also need to follow rules about taste, decency, product placement etc that apply to all broadcasting.

These are called ‘broadcast codes’. Find out more about them on the Ofcom website.

Enforcing the rules

The rules are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Anyone who thinks advertising rules have been broken can complain to the ASA within 3 months of the advert appearing.

If an advert breaks the rules, it may be withdrawn. If the product does not match the description or the advert breaks the law, you could be prosecuted

Regulations that affect advertising

Advertising to consumers

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations mean you cannot mislead or harass consumers by, for example:

  • including false or deceptive messages
  • leaving out important information
  • using aggressive sales techniques

Read ‘The consumer protection from unfair trading regulations’ for the rules on advertising legally.

Advertising to businesses

Advertising to businesses is covered by the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations. As well as being accurate and honest, you must not make misleading comparisons with competitors, that includes:

  • using a competitor’s logo or trademark, or something very similar
  • comparing your product with a competitor’s product that’s not the same

Download ‘The Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008’ for more detail about the regulations that cover advertising to businesses.

Penalties

If you break the regulations, you could be reported to a local Trading Standards office. You could be fined, prosecuted or imprisoned.


All marketing and advertising must be:

  • an accurate description of the product or service
  • legal
  • decent
  • truthful
  • honest
  • socially responsible (not encouraging illegal, unsafe or anti-social behaviour)

There are regulations that restrict what advertisers can and cannot do.

As well as the regulations, there are 2 advertising codes of practice that you need to follow to help you advertise legally.

You must describe your product or service accurately.

Requirements for specific products

There are also specific requirements that apply to certain sectors, such as:

  • food
  • alcohol
  • beauty products
  • environmentally friendly products
  • medicines
  • tobacco

For example, you can only claim your drink is ‘low in alcohol’ if it contains between 0.5% and 1.2% alcohol by volume.

Data protection

If you’re gathering, storing or using information about customers or potential customers, you must also protect their data.

To sell food and drink products, the label must be:

permanenteasy to understandeasily visiblenot misleading

You must show certain basic information and list the ingredients. You might also have to show certain warnings.

There are special regulations for labelling wine.

Products sold loose or in catering businesses

If you run a catering business, you sell food loose or package it for sale in your shop, you only need to show:

  • the name of the food
  • if any of the ingredients have been irradiated, or have come from genetically modified sources
  • certain warnings
  • any food additive you have added
  • allergen information

You must show more information if you sell meat products loose.

Packaging

If you package food yourself, you must use packaging that’s suitable for food use. Suitable packaging is marked ‘for food contact’ or has a symbol on it that looks like a wine glass and a fork.

There are special rules for using plastics, ceramics or cellophane for packaging. You must have written evidence that you’ve kept to them.

This is known as a ‘declaration of compliance’ and you can get it from your packaging supplier. You also have to get one if you buy food that’s already packaged for sale in any of those materials.


 

What Is Anti Money Laundering (AML)? 

Anti-money laundering (AML) refers to the laws, regulations and procedures intended to prevent criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income. Though anti-money laundering laws cover a limited range of transactions and criminal behavior, their implications are far-reaching. For example, AML regulations require banks and other financial institutions that issue credit or accept customer deposits to follow rules that ensure they are not aiding money-laundering.



 Social responsibility code 5.1.6 (Compliance with advertising codes)

The advertising of gambling products and services must be undertaken in a socially responsible manner and you must comply with the UK Advertising Codes issued by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) and administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). 

For media not explicitly covered you should apply the principles included in these codes of practice as if they were explicitly covered.  

You should pay particular attention to the following sections of the Codes: 

UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing (CAP Code)

UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code)

For free and paid-for advice on making your ads compliant with the Codes you can contact CAP’s Copy Advice team

Gambling industry code for socially responsible advertising

You should comply with the Gambling industry code for socially responsible advertising which is administered by the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG). This code is designed to supplement the CAP and BCAP codes by providing minimum industry standards in a limited number of related areas. 

Gambling ads of particular appeal to under-18s

The CAP Code requires that marketing communications for gambling must not be likely to be of particular appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture, particularly if they are generally available to view by them (‘freely accessible’). You therefore need to take care with the imagery and wording used in ads for gambling products or games. Read more about how the ASA views this type of content.

Following on from the joint letter to remote operators and CAP’s Webinar, a series of Q&As have been published which provide further clarity and advice on how to ensure that your ads do not have particular appeal to under 18s.

To support your compliance with the advertising rules, CAP’s guidance, Gambling advertising: protect children and young people, was released in February 2019. 

Advertising and sponsorship in sport  

We expect licensees to ensure that when agreeing commercial deals with sports clubs, that all parties are aware of, and compliant with, the relevant advertising and sponsorship rules and regulations. These include provisions contained within LCCP, the UK Advertising Codes, the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising and sport governing body rules.  

In particular:  

  • The UK Advertising Codes contain strict rules on the content, targeting and placement of gambling adverts. For example, licensees should ensure that their brand is not being promoted via the junior sections of clubs’ websites.  
  • The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising requires that licensees do not allow their logos or other promotional material to appear on any commercial merchandising (eg replica shirts) which is designed for use by children.  
  • The European Sponsorship Association and the Football Association require that in the case of teams comprising players all under the age of 18, that gambling logos do not appear on any item of kit or clothing.  

Young people in marketing material 

As a general rule, marketing communications for gambling must not include a child or a young person (for the purposes of these rules, children are people of 15 and under and young persons are people of 16 or 17). No one who is, or seems to be, under 25 years old may be featured gambling or playing a significant role.  

Individuals who are, or seem to be under 25 years old (18-24 years old) may be featured playing a significant role only in marketing communications that appear in a place where a bet can be placed directly through a transactional facility; for instance, a gambling operator’s premises or own website.

In all others instances, including social media, under 25s must not feature. CAP Gambling Consultation Regulatory Statement: Betting websites featuring individuals under the age of 25.

Open and transparent marketing

LCCP: Social responsibility code 5.1.9 (Other marketing requirements)

You must ensure that your marketing communications do not mislead consumers. 

You must ensure that all significant conditions which apply to marketing incentives are provided transparently and prominently to consumers. You must present the significant conditions at the point of sale for any promotion, and on any advertising in any medium for that marketing incentive except where, in relation to the latter, limitations of space make this impossible.

The terms and conditions of each marketing incentive must be made available for the full duration of the promotion.

You are encouraged to refer to CAP’s guidance on Gambling ads: free bets and bonuses.

 

LCCP: Social responsibility code 5.1.11 (Direct electronic marketing consent)

Unless expressly permitted by law consumers must not be contacted with direct electronic marketing without their informed and specific consent.

Whenever a consumer is contacted the consumer must be provided with an opportunity to withdraw consent. If consent is withdrawn the you must, as soon as practicable, ensure the consumer is not contacted with electronic marketing thereafter unless the consumer consents again.

You must be able to provide evidence which establishes that consent.

LCCP 5.1.11 broadly reflects the relevant requirements of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), which are enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Relevant guidance can be found on the ICO’s website:

  • Electronic and telephone marketing
  • Guidance on direct marketing
  • Direct marketing checklist
  • Guidance on cookies.

Responsible placement of digital adverts 

LCCP: Licence condition 16 (Responsible placement of digital adverts)

You must ensure that you do not place digital advertisements on websites providing unauthorised access to copyrighted content and must take all reasonable steps to ensure that third parties with whom you contract do similar.

The Infringing Website List (IWL), owned by the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), is an online portal containing an up-to-date list of copyright infringing sites. The aim of the IWL is that advertisers, agencies and other intermediaries can voluntarily decide to cease advert placement on these illegal websites. 

You are encouraged to sign up to access the IWL. For more information please contact PIPCUIWL@cityoflondon.pnn.police.uk  

 Also see

Ensuring self-excluded customers do not receive your marketing materials

Sponsorship of British sporting clubs by gambling operators

Manage the criminal risk associated with bonus and promotional offers


Licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) 

Our LCCP is the rulebook setting out the measures that you must take and other aspects that we think are good practice. To run your business in a socially responsible way is to use the LCCP as a starting point, and build on these provisions, to ensure that you puts your customers at the heart of your business. 

Working together to improve standards of safer gambling

We work with a number of partner organisations in the area of safer gambling. GambleAware’s programme of treatment, education, harm prevention and research is guided by the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, which is defined by the independent Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG), and endorsed by us. 

We also work with industry groups responsible for raising standards in safer gambling, Senet Group and the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling, for example.

One of the most important criteria for traders when choosing a Forex broker is the regulatory status of the broker and under which regulatory body the broker is regulated. Unregulated Forex / CFD brokerages are risky places for traders to deposit funds, and traders who do so are likely to find they have no effective remedy to counter losses caused by dishonesty or incompetence.

In the listing below, we outline the major regulatory bodies by country which are most relevant to Forex / CFD brokerages and summarize the major points of regulatory law applicable.

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Forex brokers usually launch with regulation in only a single country. Obtaining such regulatory approval is usually not an easy achievement, especially in jurisdictions with stricter regulation. New brokerages typically start with regulation in a single country and will then seek to gain regulatory licenses in other countries where they wish to operate. Typically, it makes things easier for Forex brokers to obtain some kind of regulatory certification even in countries where they are not physically based, if they wish to actively market their services there.

Some of the more recognized Forex regulators globally are the FCA in the United Kingdom, CySec in Cyprus and the NFA in the United States. In addition to Forex regulation from bodies established by national governments, some brokers find it important to acquire memberships from professional and cross-border entities. Forex brokers operating in the European Union will need to comply with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), a European Union-wide regulation ensuring harmonized regulation for investment services across the 30 member states of the European Economic Area.

If a Forex broker is regulated, the name of the relevant Forex regulator should be transparently listed somewhere on the broker’s website. If it is not, the website should tell you an address for the head office of the brokerage and from this you can tell that it should hopefully be regulated in this country. If the website does not give you at least this, it is a strong sign that this broker is not regulated – for obvious reasons, brokers which are completely unregulated do not usually advertise that fact. If you have a country from which the broker operates, you can find the relevant regulatory body and you should be able to search their website to find whether this broker is within their published list of regulated Forex brokers.

Listed below are the financial regulatory bodies for each country by alphabetic order, as well as the maximum leverage that may be offered by a Forex / CFD broker operating from there to its own residents, which occasionally differs from that which may be offered to residents of foreign countries.

Australia:
Australian Securities and Investment Commission

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:500 

Australia is a very popular offshore venue for Forex / CFD traders, due to its mixture of very high maximum leverage, solid but flexible regulatory framework, and large number of ECN brokers. What prevents many brokers from seeking ASIC regulation is the far geographic distance that makes it difficult for brokers to operate in Australia.

Forex Brokers in Australia

Forex Regulation in Australia

Canada:
Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)
British Columbia Securities Commission
Ontario Securities Commission

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:50

Canada is not a popular venue for non-resident Forex traders due to its tough regulatory regime and very small number of Forex brokers. More details about Canada’s regulation can be found here.

Forex Brokers in Canada

Forex Regulation in Canada

Cyprus:
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:30

The Republic of Cyprus is a very popular offshore venue for Forex / CFD traders, due to its mixture of E.U. membership, very flexible regulatory framework, and very large number of brokerage houses plus full supporting infrastructure.

Denmark:
Danish FSA

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:30

Denmark is not an especially strong venue for Forex and CFD trading but has always been the financial services hub of the Scandinavian nations. It does have one big name brokerage in Saxo Bank.

European Monetary Union:
Markets in Financial Instruments Directive

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:30

France:
Banque de France
Autorité des Marchés Financiers
Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel (ACP)

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:30

France is not a strong venue for Forex and CFD trading, with most French traders preferring to use offshore brokerages.

Germany:
Federal Financial Supervisory Authority

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:30

Germany is not a strong venue for Forex and CFD trading, with most French traders preferring to use offshore brokerages.

Hong Kong SAR:
Securities and Futures Commission

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:500

Hong Kong is a very popular offshore financial center, especially for the Asian market, and is home to many Forex / CFD brokerages due to its combination of light regulation and good supportive infrastructure, while it remains a popular choice of venue for both domestic and offshore Forex traders.

India:
Reserve Bank of India

Maximum Forex Leverage: Zero

Forex trading is only legal for Indian residents if the base currency is Indian Rupees and the counterparty currency USD, EUR, JPY or GBP. Therefore, the domestic retail Forex industry in India is practically non-existent.

Indonesia:
Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:200

Indonesia has a growing domestic Forex / CFD brokerage industry which has begun to recover from its initial scandals generated during its early, relatively unregulated days. However, many Indonesian resident traders still tend to seek offshore brokers, and Indonesian brokers have few offshore clients.

Italy:
Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa

Maximum Forex Leverage: 1:30

Forex and CFD trading remain popular in Italy although the relatively weak Italian economy has stunted the natural growth of the industry. Italian traders generally prefer Italian and Swiss brokerage houses.