A website must meet the requirements as any other form of a financial promotion. Additional rules for websites which offer transactional capability are set out in the COBS 5.2 – E-Commerce, which can be found in the Handbook on the FCA website. There are also further Consumer Duty considerations for websites which we have noted below.

Firms also need to be aware of any other requirements that arise as a result of any specific nature within the content of the website.

Examples of these requirements are listed below;

Firm Name & Contact Details

There are additional requirements arising under Companies Act and Business Names Act and it is your firm’s legal duty to ensure the content is correct.

You should include the following information within your website.

If you are authorised as an incorporated firm you must include;

• Your full company name including status (i.e. Ltd, Plc, Limited Liability Partnership)(as noted at Companies House)
• Your registered office address
• Your registered number and its location
• You are not required to include director’s names but if included it must list all within the company.
• If your firm is a partnership, then you must state all the names of all partners of the partnership. (Stated as Member)
• If your firm is a sole trader the name of the principal should be shown i.e. Principal John Smith, however this is not required if the firm is trading under the name of the principal only e.g. John Smith trading as John Smith.

VAT

Where you are VAT registered, the VAT number must also be included on your home page of the website, whenever you are carrying out a regulated activity through the website i.e. advising on and/or arranging

Regulatory Statement

This should be included and in a prominent place on the firms website;

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Where you are required to include this statement you must also include the following;

[Firm Name] is entered on the Financial Services Register https://register.fca.org.uk/   under reference xxxxx

If the firm is an appointed rep it is the AR’s FCA number that goes on the website.

Where the FCA is named in a promotion that also referrers to non-regulated, or partially non-regulated, business or services i.e. taxation advice, you must ensure that the non-regulated status of each product or service is clearly identified. The following statements are examples of these:

• The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate will writing and taxation and trust advice

Or;

• The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate some forms of buy-to-let mortgages

These warnings can be recorded on their own, or combined.

It is not acceptable to assume that the reader will be aware of a product’s classification, within a list of products or services.

Complaints

Firms are required to include details of the Financial Ombudsman Service, including the Financial Ombudsman Service’s website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk on the firm’s website.

These requirements are outlined in DISP 1.2 Consumer awareness rules. Suggested wording for your website is as follows:

“If you wish to register a complaint, please write to or telephone…[insert contact details]

A summary of our internal complaints handling procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints is available on request and if you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by contacting them on 0800 023 4 567.”

Regulatory Jurisdiction

The site must also make clear that it is targeted at individuals within the UK, by including a warning like the one below, or an alternative warning with substantially the same meaning;

• ‘The guidance and/or advice contained within this website is subject to the UK regulatory regime, and is therefore targeted at consumers based in the UK’

The need to include this will depend on the nature of information you will include within your site.

Access to the Site and Prominence of Warnings

The complexity of the website and the way in which it may be used if accessed via pages other than the home page, will play a big part in the way the regulatory information is included, or how often it is repeated.

It could be this information is required on every page however where the landing page is always intended to be the ‘home page’ it will be acceptable to include the main warnings solely on this page.

Prominence is hugely important and not just in relation to text size, consideration must be given to the way information is provided i.e. it is not acceptable to have key information at the bottom of a website where a client has to scroll down and may not necessarily see it.

Links to Other Websites

You should ensure that wherever a link is provided to other information or a website which is not controlled by you, that the following warning or one with substantially the same meaning appears prominently before exiting your website:

‘You are now leaving the website of [Firm Name] and we cannot be held responsible for the content of this external website.’

These links must also open either as a separate window, or by closing your site. Under no circumstances should a link open within the frames of your site unless you are granted permission to reproduce this by third party and you assume full responsibility for all the information contained within it.

You should note that links to any site where products can be purchased, or that are linked to with a view to products being purchased, for example a fund supermarket, should be treated as contracted information.

This means they must comply with the relevant rules, i.e. Non Advised Sales Process or Direct Offer rules. Any site linked to in this way that does not comply with the regulatory requirements should not be used.

If your website contains links that are felt to be inappropriate or damaging to your business or which could compromise your firm’s compliance with the FCA principle of Integrity, then they should not be used. Inappropriate links would be to sites damaging to the reputation or standing of the business or any industry regulator, containing pornography, involving gambling, containing foul or offensive language or pictures or generally containing information or content that could be offensive to those activating the link.

Consumer Duty

Websites are an important way to convey key information to clients.  You should ensure key information is clear, visible and accessible and not hidden within a large volume of material, or hard to find on your website.  This includes information to enable and support customers to pursue their financial objectives and depending on the application of the consumer understanding outcome in the context of the firm’s target market and complexity of information shared:

• Prominent opening times on the home page of the website, e.g. during seasonal holidays etc
• Clear contact details including telephone and email address
• Other ways for clients to seek support, for example, how to complain including that this does not need to be in writing (as above)
• Relevant details about the firm’s services and charging structures
• Clarification of more complex financial terms used on the website, e.g. via a glossary of terms where appropriate
• Short videos to explain the advice process or give general guidance around investment concepts
• A ‘contact us’ facility for prospective clients to ask questions or to give feedback on services received
• Links to valuable and relevant resources such as Citizens Advice / Pension Wise or FCA ScamSmart information

General Data Protection Regulation, Computer Misuse Act and Disability Discrimination Act (Internet)

Your firm should ensure that you are aware of, and have addressed your legal responsibilities regarding General Data Protection Regulation and the Disability Discrimination Act.

In COBS 3.14.4G, the FCA indicates that firms should refer to other relevant legislation for the internet and other electronic media, such as General Data Protection Regulation and Computer Misuse Act 1990.

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was passed in 1995 to end the discrimination that many disabled people face. It protects disabled people in a number of ways, including access to goods and services.

Since October 1999, service providers have had to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services. This has an impact on the firms providing information and services over the internet.

The World Wide Web Consortium has constructed a set of guidelines known as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These provide steps that web designers can take in order to make their site as accessible as possible. A copy of these guidelines can be obtained from:-

http://www.w3.org/WAI/

Many of these guidelines are technical in nature and a web owner would not be expected to understand or study them, however, when commissioning a website, you would be well advised to check that your designer is aware of these and able to construct your website accordingly.

Gathering personal Information

Where a firm is asking clients for their personal information on a Contact us page, for example, please include the wording to make it clear the purpose it will be used for – for example:

Before you supply any personal details to us via the contact us page on this website please read our customer privacy notice document (provide link or state location). This notice sets out how we will process your personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulations. Once you have read the customer privacy notice, please tick to confirm that you have read it and that you agree to (insert firm name here) processing your personal information for the purpose of contacting you. We will not use the details you provide us in the contact page to market to you.

You should ensure there is a tick box adjacent to the above wording so the reader has to agree to the above prior to submitting any data through the website. This applies to all contact points throughout the site where personal data may be inputted by the user.

If you also wish to market to the prospect then you should add a separate tick box with the following wording.

Please tick the box if you are happy to receive details of services and products we can offer in writing, by email, SMS or by phone.

You should modify the wording above to fit the communication channels you wish to use.

General requirements

Any website must meet the FCA’s clear, fair and not misleading rules. Therefore the following points apply:

• be accurate
• be balanced (does not emphasise potential benefits without prominent indication of any relevant risks)
• be likely to be understood by the target audience
• not disguise, omit, diminish or obscure important items, statements or warnings
• present comparisons in a fair and balanced way so that they are meaningful

Mortgages

Where relevant, the promotion must make it clear where credit is secured on the customer’s home. Whilst there is no longer a prescribed statement within the Rules, we recommend the following wording, or wording similar, be included in a prominent statement (this statement and each thereafter does not have to be shown in bold):

‘As a mortgage is secured against your home, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up the mortgage repayments’

There will be instances where you may not have available space to include this full wording. In such instances you may wish to consider an alternative, i.e. ‘A mortgage will be secured against your home’.

Equity release products will also secure credit against the consumers home and this must be confirmed by amending the statement above i.e. ‘Equity released from your home will be secured against it’ or ‘A lifetime mortgage will be secured against your home’ (where this type of equity release is referred to specifically)

In instances where a promotion refers to a number of products from more than one relevant market (both residential mortgages and equity release) the statement can be combined i.e. ‘Mortgages on and equity released from your home will be secured against it’

Providing Price Information

Where an interest rate or cost of the credit is referred to in a promotion, it must also include:

• The rate, whether fixed or variable or both and the total cost of the credit to the customer (i.e. the total amount payable)
• The total amount of credit
• A prominent statement of the Annual Percentage Rate of Credit (APRC) (no less prominent than the interest rate)
• Where applicable:

• the duration of the credit
• the amount of instalments
• the number of instalments
• the cost of any compulsory ancillary service

• Where it is a foreign rate mortgage, the fact that possible fluctuations in the exchange rate could affect the amount payable

Where reference is made to a product that can have a varying APRC depending on the circumstances of the customer, it must be shown as a representative example. This means the firm must base the APRC on the expected majority of the respondents (at least 51% of the total) it is targeted at.

Buy to Lets (including let to buy)

Buy to let mortgages can be categorised as:

• A regulated mortgage contract (MCOB rules apply)
• A consumer buy to let (MCOB rules apply)
• A commercial buy to let (a non-regulated activity)

Where a promotion refers to buy to let generally but refers to this activity solely, each of the above sections must be considered, although as the mortgage is not secured on the customer’s home, the disclaimer associated with this need not be included, however, we recommend the following statement is used:

‘A buy to let mortgage will be secured against your property’

Where reference is to made to a range of mortgage products and incudes buy to let, we recommend the disclaimer regarding the security of credit be amended as follows:

‘As a mortgage is secured against your home or property, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up the mortgage repayments’

Or

‘A mortgage loan will be secured against your home or property’

If any reference is made to the firm being authorised and regulated by the FCA the following statement should also be included:

‘Some types of buy to let mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority’

Where a promotion specifically and solely targets commercial buy to let activities (i.e. is aimed at landlords) none of the above requirements apply, although section 4 below must still be considered. In these instances no reference to the FCA should be made.

Debt Consolidation

Any advertisement or communication that contains a reference to the consolidation of existing debts should only be made where the consolidation is being added to a Regulated Mortgage Contract. There is no requirement to include a disclaimer where only a statement to this activity is made; however, if the communication refers to the benefits of debt consolidation, we recommend the following statement be included;

‘Think carefully before securing other debts against your home’

Depending on the stated benefits of consolidating debt other statements may also be required to ensure balance.