The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) required firms to either amend or remove their advertisement a total of 8,582 times in 2022, the regulator revealed.
On top of this, the watchdog published over 1,800 alerts to prevent consumers from losing money to scams.
The number of blocked ads marks a sharp increase from the previous year, as the regulator’s action was 14-fold compared to 2021.
The FCA said social media continues to be a major focus as it has been working closely with big tech firms, such as Google, Twitter and Microsoft, to only allow ads by FCA-authorised companies.
The watchdog added that ‘fin-fluencers’ have become a growing concern, since unauthorised individuals should not provide financial advice to people on the merits of investments, as this is likely to result in regulatory action against them.
The FCA has already acted against several social media influencers last year as a result, it added.
Sarah Pritchard, executive director, markets at the FCA, said: “Our expectations remain the same. Financial promotions must be fair, clear and not misleading. What has changed is the FCA’s approach. By drawing on better technology, we’re finding poor quality or misleading ads quicker. And where we find them, we’re stepping in to make firms improve them or remove them entirely.
“This year, we will continue to put the pressure on people using social media to illegally promote investments, which put people’s hard-earned money at risk.”
As part of its crackdown on misleading ads, the FCA is looking to introduce tougher checks for firms looking to approve financial promotions.
