CNMV requires crypto advertising to be clear and not misleading

CNMV will require advertising on crypto assets to be clear, Balanced, impartial and not misleading, and that it avoids omitting relevant information or including information that is ambiguous, biased, incomplete or contradictory It can lead to confusion. On Monday, the Official Gazette (BOE) publishes a circular from the National Securities Exchange Commission (CNMV) on the announcement of crypto assets offered as an investment object, which It will take effect in a month. La Información also advanced.

According to the law, advertising that provides information on cost or profitability The encoder must contain clear, accurate, sufficient and current information, in a manner commensurate with its nature and complexity, the characteristics of the media used and the target audience to which it is directed. Likewise, references to high past returns should be avoided, and if made, you should explicitly indicate the time period you are referring to, and it should not be less than 12 months.

The circular published today, which consists of seven regulations, a final ruling and two appendices, will be applicable to crypto asset service providers. When they conduct advertising activities on these assets. It will also apply to advertising service providers, or to any natural or legal person who, on their own initiative or on behalf of third parties, carries out advertising activity on crypto assets.

In the same way, the rule states that all commercial communications will include information about the risks of the product they are advertising, and this warning indicates that “Investing in crypto assets is unregulated, It may not be suitable for individual investors and the entire amount invested may be lost.”

Advertising activity targeting investors in Spain will not require prior notification to the CNMV, except in the case of massive advertising campaigns. However, even when they are not massive advertising campaigns in the strict sense of the word, CNMV may require some binding topics This pre-communication for all its advertising campaigns, when it is considered due to the impact it can have on the target audience.

In the exercise of its supervisory function, the CNMV may request specific information about campaigns or advertising pieces in order to assess compliance with the requirements of this circular. The CNMV explains it Crypto assets are enjoying a growing presence in the financial system, And although its development in Spain presents important opportunities, it also poses challenges in the area of ​​investor protection, “since there is currently no complete regulation in this regard that adequately responds to the risks that may be involved”.

Revaluations of some crypto assets have increased their attractiveness as an investment Intensified by numerous advertising campaigns They manage to encourage minority investors to invest in these new assets without obtaining sufficient information about their nature and the risks involved.

For this reason, the CNMV and Published by the Bank of Spain on February 9, 2021 A joint statement, adding to another from 2018, they cautioned about the risks these assets pose, in particular, to small investors. In this context, the Royal Decree-Law 5/2021, on March 12, on extraordinary measures to support business solvency in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, introduced a new Article 240 bis into the Stock Market Act (LMV) to strengthen the legal framework for protecting citizens and investors in relation to To announce new financial instruments and assets in the digital sphere.

The CNMV has been granted powers to be subject to administrative control for advertising crypto assets and other assets and instruments not regulated in the LMV that are presented as an investment proposal. In turn, the CNMV . was delegated To develop through the generalization of the objective and subjective sphere, As well as the control mechanisms and procedures that will be applied to the mentioned advertising activities.