Notice No. 09/2014 of 10 December on the Advertising of Financial Products and Services

Published in the Official Gazette, 1st Series, No. 218, of 10 December

NOTICE NO. 09/2014

SUBJECT: ADVERTISING OF FINANCIAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Given the need to establish the minimum information requirements that financial institutions must satisfy to advertise the financial products and services they market to the public.

Considering that advertising is a determining element for the emergence and formation of contractual intent.

In accordance with the provisions contained in item f) of paragraph 1 of Article 21 of Law No. 16/10 of 15 July, the Law of the Bank of Angola, combined with paragraph 1 of Article 58, Article 69, and item h) of Article 131, all of Law No. 13/05 of 30 September, the Law of Financial Institutions.

HEREBY DETERMINES:

Article 1.
(Object)

1. This Notice establishes the norms and principles governing the advertising of financial products and services marketed by financial institutions under the supervision of the Bank of Angola.
2. The following advertising activities are excluded from the scope of this Notice:

CONTINUATION OF NOTICE NO. 09/2014 Page 2 of 9 a) Corporate campaigns, understood as those intended to inform consumers of financial products and services about generic information regarding the financial institution or its corporate purpose. b) Informational content, regarding the elements necessary for adherence to products or services, made available to consumers of financial products and services on the websites of financial institutions or in other dissemination media.

Article 2.
(Scope)
This regulation applies to financial institutions under the supervision of the Bank of Angola.

Article 3.
(Principles)

1. The advertising of financial products and services must adhere to the following principles:
   a) Principle of Legality - the form, object, and purpose of advertising financial products and services must respect the fundamental rules and norms, constitutionally enshrined and protected by law; b) Principle of Identifiability - the advertising of financial products and services must be unequivocally identified as such, regardless of the form or dissemination medium used; c) Principle of Truthfulness – the information contained in advertising messages regarding financial products and services must respect the truth, not distorting facts, nor misleading the recipients of the message; d) Respect for Consumer Rights – the advertising of financial products and services must not infringe upon the rights legally conferred upon the consumer.

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2. The dissemination of information that is not updated, regarding market conditions that impact the characteristics of products or services, including rates, commissions, expenses, or the performance of a financial product, violates the provision of item c) of paragraph 1 of this article.
3. The other general principles established in the General Advertising Law are also applicable, with due adaptations, to the advertising of financial products and services.

Article 4.
(Identification of the Institution)

1. The advertising of financial products and services must unequivocally identify the financial institution responsible for the advertised products and services.
2. For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, it is sufficient to use a partial version of the responsible institution's corporate name or a commercial brand unequivocally associated with it.

Article 5.
(Transparency of Information)

1. In the advertising of financial products and services, information necessary, in each case, for a correct evaluation of the characteristics that financial institutions highlight from the advertised financial product or service, must not be omitted or concealed.
2. For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the following shall be considered necessary information:
   a) Conditions for access to financial products and services, loyalty for a minimum period, or other criteria whose non-compliance limits such access; b) Restrictions and limitations associated with the advertised product or service; c) Monetary values, whose references must be expressed in national currency.

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3. Furthermore, a lack of transparency of information in the advertising of financial products or services is considered to exist when:
a) Its nature or purpose is not clear, although the use of the designation "multi-product" is admissible for the better identification of the nature or purpose of a product or service, whenever it comprises various components with different purposes; b) In promotional messages, the validity period is omitted or concealed; c) It allows the consumer of financial products and services to reduce the consideration due, by omitting or concealing how this reduction is obtained, notably through a grace period or deferral of capital or an increase in the repayment term; d) It allows the consumer to access additional products, services, or benefits, by omitting or concealing any relevant circumstance for their correct evaluation, with emphasis on the following aspects:
i) commissions, rates, or charges associated with these additional products, services, or benefits; ii) repayment term and the existence of penalties in case of early mobilization; or iii) any circumstances that oblige the consumer to return these additional products, services, or benefits or to compensate the financial institution, notably upon the early repayment of a loan or the termination of a contract before a minimum period of stay.
4. Without prejudice to any eventual limitations of space and time of the dissemination medium used, a lack of transparency in the presentation of information is considered to exist in any case when:
a) The characters are of a size inferior to the minimum value defined in the Annex, which is an integral part of this Notice;

CONTINUATION OF NOTICE NO. 09/2014 Page 5 of 9 b) The language makes it difficult to understand the fundamental characteristics of the advertised products or services; or c) In violation of the provisions of Article 7 of this Notice, regarding television, radio, internet, or any other dissemination medium advertising.

Article 6.
(Balance of Information)
Financial institutions, when advertising the financial products and services they market, must give conditions of access, restrictions, or limitations, referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 5, notoriety similar to that attributed to the main characteristics of the financial product or service they aim to advertise.

Article 7.
(General Regime for Dissemination Media)

1. The advertising of financial products and services may involve television, radio, internet campaigns, written materials made available at the counter, direct marketing, billboards, posters used inside and outside agencies, newspapers, and magazines.
2. The advertising of financial products and services adheres to the principles established above and also takes into account the additional criteria defined in this article for the dissemination media mentioned below:
   a) In television advertising of financial products and services, the presentation of information for a period of time insufficient to allow adequate reading and listening is considered concealment; b) In radio advertising of financial products and services, the presentation of information for a period insufficient to allow adequate listening is considered concealment;

CONTINUATION OF NOTICE NO. 09/2014 Page 6 of 9 c) Advertising of financial products and services through the internet is subject to the provisions of items a) and b) of this article, whenever it involves moving images or sound, respectively.
3. In the advertising of financial products and services, financial institutions, regardless of the dissemination medium used, must mention the following phrase: "Inform yourself at [name of the financial institution]" or a similar expression.

Article 8.
(Expressions of Restricted Use)
In the advertising of financial products and services, the expressions indicated below may only be used in the following situations:
a) The expression "interest-free," "0% interest," or similar, when no interest is chargeable to the client; b) The expression "no costs," "no charges," or similar, when no interest, commissions, or other charges are chargeable to the client; c) The expression "no initial deposit" or similar, when the client is not required to make any advance payments to acquire the financial product or service; d) The expression "guaranteed acceptance" or similar, when the acquisition of a financial product or service is not dependent on meeting any conditions regarding the client's credit profile; e) The expression "offer," "gift," or similar, when there are no conditions or circumstances that oblige the client to return or compensate for the said "offer"; f) The expression "we refund your money" or similar, when the full refund of amounts paid by the client is provided for; g) The expression "we pay" or similar, when the financial institution bears the costs in full or when these are partially borne, provided that the respective share is indicated with equal prominence;

CONTINUATION OF NOTICE NO. 09/2014 Page 7 of 9 h) The expression "new clients" alone, when the only condition for access to a product or service is exclusively not being a client of the financial institution at the time of acquisition; i) The expressions "the lowest in the market," "the highest in the market," "the best in the market," or similar, when followed, with equal prominence, by the particular conditions of the financial product or service that support the statement.

Article 9.
(Responsibility)

1. Financial institutions must ensure that the advertising of their financial products and services, carried out by advertising agencies, as well as by other entities exercising advertising activities, complies with the provisions of this Notice.
2. Advertising disseminated by bank correspondents or other entities through which financial institutions market their products and services is the responsibility of the financial institution and must comply with the provisions of this Notice.

Article 10.
(Supervision)

1. The Bank of Angola supervises the advertising of financial products and services, based on a model for evaluating compliance with the principles and rules provided for by the legislation in force regulating advertising.
2. The evaluation referred to in the preceding paragraph is carried out after the dissemination of advertising messages in the dissemination media.

Article 11.
(Reporting of Advertising Campaigns)

1. After the launch of television, radio advertising campaigns, and those involving written materials made available at the counter, direct marketing, billboards, posters used inside and outside agencies, newspapers, and magazines, financial institutions must send a copy of the same to the Bank of Angola, in electronic format, through the extranet of the Portal for Consumers of Financial Products and Services.
2. The report required under the preceding paragraph must be submitted 5 days after the launch of the advertising campaigns, accompanied by correspondence that should mention, among other information, the objective, the target audience, and the broadcasting period of the campaigns, as well as contacts for any clarifications.
3. The technical sheet of the advertised financial product or service must also be sent, accompanied by other support materials, if they exist.

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Article 12.
(Offenses)

1. Violation of the provisions of this Notice is punishable, in accordance with the Law of Financial Institutions.
2. The Bank of Angola may require the financial institution to restore the truthfulness of the facts advertised with the same prominence and means used for the dissemination of the advertising containing untrue information.

Article 13.
(Doubts and Omissions)
Doubts and omissions resulting from the interpretation and application of this Notice are resolved by the Bank of Angola.

Article 14.
(Repealing Clause)
All provisions contrary to the provisions of this Notice are hereby repealed.

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Article 15.
(Entry into Force)
This Notice enters into force 30 days after its publication.

PUBLISH.

Luanda, 05 December 2014.

THE GOVERNOR
JOSÉ DE LIMA MASSANO