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ARTICLE · 18 OCTOBER 2019

FINRA: Keep Advertising Simple

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In Regulatory Notice 19-31 (the "Notice"), FINRA focuses on keeping marketing materials fair and balanced, as required by FINRA Rules 2210 – 2220, but also keeping those materials short and sweet.

United StatesCorporate/Commercial Law
Bradley Berman
Bradley Berman
Michael D. Russo
Michael D. Russo
Anna T. Pinedo
Anna T. Pinedo
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In Regulatory Notice 19-31 (the "Notice"), FINRA focuses on keeping marketing materials fair and balanced, as required by FINRA Rules 2210 – 2220, but also keeping those materials short and sweet.1 The Notice starts off by encouraging member firms to use innovative designs and techniques in their electronic advertising communications. But more importantly, FINRA focuses on encouraging members to be "precise and succinct in their explanations and disclosures." Members were encouraged to avoid including "rote or prescriptive boilerplate" that is not required by FINRA rules. Although FINRA does not object to additional disclosure, the concern is that it may inhibit or distract from an investor's understanding of the required information. For example, a generic one-page marketing piece was shown with the names of six ETFs. FINRA noted that in the small print disclaimer that took up most of the page, the only relevant part was the two sentences stating that an investor

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