Securities Services Act, 2004 (Act No. 36 of 2004)Code of Conduct for Authorised Users7. Advertisements |
| (1) | Advertising material of an authorised user— |
| (a) | must provide accurate, complete and unambiguous information about any security or security service; |
| (b) | must emphasise the risk of loss and uncertainty of future results; |
| (c) | must discern fact from opinion; and |
| (d) | may not be comparative in relation to another authorised user. |
| (2) | An advertisement by an authorised user— |
| (a) | may not contain any statement, promise or forecast which is fraudulent, untrue or misleading; |
| (b) | must, if it contains— |
| (i) | performance data (including awards and rankings), include references to their source and date; |
| (ii) | illustrations, forecasts or hypothetical data— |
| (aa) | contain support in the form of clearly stated basic assumptions (including, but not limited to, any relevant assumptions in respect of performance, returns, costs and charges) with a reasonable prospect of being met under current circumstances; |
| (bb) | make it clear that they are not guaranteed and are provided for illustrative purposes only; and |
| (cc) | also contain, where returns or benefits are dependent on the performance of underlying assets or other variable market factors, clear indications of such dependence; |
| (iii) | a warning statement about risks involved in buying or selling a security, prominently render or display such statement; and |
| (iv) | information about past performances, also contain a warning that past performances are not necessarily indicative of future performances; and |
| (c) | must, if the investment value of a financial product mentioned in the advertisement is not guaranteed, contain a warning that no guarantees are provided. |