The People's Bank of China, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, issued the Measures on the Administration of Online Marketing of Financial Products, creating a comprehensive compliance framework for financial institutions’ online marketing and for third-party internet platforms that provide marketing services on an entrusted basis. The Measures require marketing to stay within the licensed business scope and prohibit providing marketing services or facilitation for illegal fundraising, illegal securities and futures activity, illegal deposit-taking, illegal lending, virtual currency issuance and trading, illegal foreign exchange margin trading and unlicensed cross-border provision of financial products to domestic residents. Financial institutions must take primary responsibility for the legality and compliance of online marketing content and establish review mechanisms, while platforms must strengthen disclosures to allow consumers and investors to verify the identity of cooperating institutions and basic product information. Content standards target misleading promotion and newer channels such as algorithmic recommendations and livestreaming, including bans on loan marketing phrases such as “low threshold”, “instant funds” and “low interest rate”, separation of payment tools from loans in payment-institution checkout pages, restrictions on using the word “finance” in apps and trademarks without relevant qualifications, and prohibitions on non-financial institution staff marketing financial products via livestream, short videos or social media, including “stock recommendation” style activity. The Measures also set boundaries for cooperation, requiring financial institutions to ensure business independence and technical security and to conduct pre-assessment and ongoing management of partner platforms, while barring platforms from intervening in or indirectly participating in key sales processes such as contract signing, fund transfers, suitability assessments and credit-limit assessments, and from conducting interactive consultation with customers or creating brand confusion. The regime takes effect on 30 September 2026, with firms and platforms expected to remediate non-compliant marketing content and practices in advance, and State Council financial regulators may issue additional requirements for specific sub-sectors.
Central Bank of the Republic of China 2026-04-24
People's Bank of China and seven agencies issue online financial product marketing rules effective 30 September 2026
The People’s Bank of China and seven other authorities issued Measures on the Administration of Online Marketing of Financial Products, creating a comprehensive compliance framework for financial institutions’ online marketing and third-party platforms providing entrusted marketing services. The Measures tighten content standards, ban marketing of illegal and unlicensed financial activities, impose primary compliance responsibility and review mechanisms on financial institutions, and require platforms to enhance disclosures and restrict livestream and algorithm-driven promotions. They also prohibit platforms from intervening in core sales processes and allow State Council financial regulators to add sector-specific requirements.