AdAge.com warns that financial reform could pinch ad agencies
Ad agencies and financial marketing firms are keeping a close eye on how the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is going to define “abusive” advertising practices or what it will say about how much information must be included in ads.
As AdAge.com reports today It is unclear what the fallout of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted this month, will be on ad agencies, but undoubtedly there will be a need for more clear disclosures
The new law is an ambiguous outline of Congress’ intentions; regulators have yet to hone the actual rules, which could be very stringent or very slack, said Advertising Age’s Katie Kuehner-Hebert.
She went on to say:
Financial marketers, brace yourselves: Your advertising leeway may soon be further curtailed, thanks to the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection created by the recently enacted financial-reform law.
The new federal agency’s future rulemaking on a host of ambiguous issues – such as drafting a definition for “abusive” advertising practices or mandating how much information must be included in ads – could result in overly cumbersome, cost-prohibitive and possibly even onerous requirements, according to industry watchers.
Then again, many of the actual rules promulgated might not result in the radical changes that some in the financial industry fear. The new law is an ambiguous outline of Congress’ intentions; regulators have yet to hone the actual rules, which could be very stringent or very slack.
Even the financial marketers are keeping mum so far. Kuehner-Hebert said, “JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup, Regions Financial Corp., SunTrust Banks, Zions Bancorp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Fifth Third Bancorp declined to be interviewed for this article, saying it’s too soon to comment. Bank of America Corp., U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Group, BB&T Corp. and Capital One Financial Corp. did not return phone calls.”
