Marketing Material Guidelines and Compliance FAQ
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Question
If an advertisement is exempted from
authorization under the SFO and the
advertisement issuer chooses to adopt the old
advertising guidelines during the transitional
period, is it acceptable not to disclose the name
of the issuer and the statement that the
advertisement is not reviewed by the
Commission?
What constitutes an advertisement?
What materials are required to comply with
the Advertising Guidelines?
Press releases and information provided to
the press at interviews will not be directly
published in its original form and content in
the media. Are such releases required to
comply with the Advertising Guidelines?
Answer
While the old advertising guidelines do not contain the requirement of disclosing the full name
of the issuer or, for cases where the advertisement is exempted from pre-vetting, that the
advertisement has not been reviewed by the Commission, advertisement issuers are strongly
encouraged to make such disclosure in advertisements issued during the transitional period
even if the issuers choose to continue following the old advertising guidelines.
However, if advertisement issuers choose to adopt the new Advertising Guidelines, such
disclosure becomes mandatory.
As defined under s102(1) of the SFO, an "advertisement" includes every form of advertising,
whether made orally or produced mechanically, electronically, magnetically, optically,
manually or by any other means.
In addition, issuers should also make reference to s103(10) of the SFO for determining
whether a material constitutes an advertisement.
In general, any material which contains information relating to authorized schemes with a
marketing purpose is regarded as an advertisement.
The following are some materials which may generally be excluded from being scheme
advertisements unless they can be construed as such:
corporate advertisements which only advertise the expertise or services of the issuer
without referring to any particular scheme;
souvenirs or corporate gifts containing only the scheme name without any additional
information of the scheme; and
publication of scheme prices pursuant to relevant provisions of a Product Code without
any additional information of the scheme.
All advertisements of schemes authorized under the Product Codes, no matter whether the
issue of which are exempted from authorization under s103 of the SFO, must comply with the
Advertising Guidelines. See also Question 3 above.
Information provided to the press in press releases, at press interviews or otherwise is
expected to be distributed or reported to the public. Hence, information providers should
ensure that such information does not contain product information which would contravene
the provisions in the Advertising Guidelines.
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