Customer owned banks that subscribe to the Code have made a commitment to ensure their advertising and promotional material is not misleading or deceptive:
“We will not mislead or deceive you either by what we say or represent, or by omission (what we fail to say or represent). We will have regard to ASIC regulatory guidance about advertising financial products and services including credit when developing and reviewing our advertising and promotional material.” (Part D, clause 1.1, Delivering on our Promises)
This clause of the Code restates existing legal obligations prohibiting misleading and deceptive conduct under the ASIC Act, as well as State and Territory Fair Trading laws. It does not impose any additional obligations on the customer owned bank beyond what the law already requires.
Promotional material will be misleading or deceptive if it is capable of inducing error on the part of the audience. This means that whether an advertisement is misleading depends on its effect on consumers – not on your intention or our staff’s intention.
Good industry practice include:
Further information on good advertising practices can be found in the: