FSA acts tough on advert rule breakers

Axa Sun Life is the first high profile company to fall foul of the FSA's stance on adverts that may mislead consumers. So what does this mean for the finance industry?

It has taken a year, but the FSA has now started to deliver on its promise to start coming down like the proverbial ton of bricks on advertisers who break its rules. Axa Sun Life is the first high-profile victim. It has picked up a half-a-million pound fine for rule-breaking in TV and press advertisements, as well as literature and mailshots, for a couple of mass market life assurance products. It is a development that many people view with distinctly mixed feelings. On the one hand, these were pretty horrible ads for pretty horrible products - and some would say that £500,000 is a mode...