Advertising for financial products

If you advertise a credit or a type of investment, you must include a risk warning. For instance 'Let op! Geld lenen kost geld’ (Warning! It costs money to loan money). The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) supervises this.

Risk warning in credit advertisements

Do you advertise consumer credits (consumptief krediet, in Dutch)? You must provide clear information (in Dutch) about the cost of the loan and the interest rate. You are not allowed to advertise with promotional rates. You must also include a risk warning in the advertisement (in Dutch). This risk warning consists of the warning statement 'Let op! Geld lenen kost geld’ (Warning! It costs money to loan money) and a symbol. You are obliged to use AFM's risk warning material (in Dutch) for advertising on the internet, radio and television, and in print media.

Risk indicator for advertising investments and bank savings

Do you advertise investing money in, for instance, insurances or bank savings? You must state the expected yield (low or high interest), and include a risk indicator (risicometer) and a warning statement. This statement reads: 'Loop geen onnodig risico. Lees de Essentiële Beleggersinformatie' (Do not take unnecessary risks. Read the essential investor information). You are obliged to use the warning statements (in Dutch) provided by the AFM. This applies to advertising on the internet, radio and television, and in print media.

For certain high-risk financial products in the Netherlands advertising is not allowed. The AFM is authorised to determine to which products this applies.

Exemption notice

If you are not subject to AFM supervision (meaning you are exempt from the licence obligation or the prospectus obligation), then you must include a compulsory exemption notice in your advertisement. The exemption notice consists of a statement and a symbol.

Rules for financial influencers

Are you a content creator or influencer and do you post about investing (finfluencer)? To provide financial advice, you need a license for financial activities. You have to keep to certain rules for sharing content about investing, such as:

• Without a permit, you are not allowed to provide investment advice that addresses someone’s personal situation
• You can only make a general and objective investment recommendation
• You must be clear about your own interest
• You should not get paid for bringing in clients