Financial Services Ads: FCA Verification and Forex Certification

Verification depends on the country you target, certification depends on the product you sell, and one campaign can need both.

Four cases make that concrete.

• A UK lender or insurer needs verification and no forex certification.
• A UK forex or CFD broker needs both.
• A site that sells nothing financial but bids on searches like "best savings account" in the UK can still be caught, because the rule reaches users who appear to be seeking financial services. Google has an exemption form for that case.
• A forex broker targeting a country that's missing from Google's list can't advertise there, whatever license it holds.

One trap sits in the small print. UK verification covers financial services regulated and not regulated by the FCA. Being outside the FCA's perimeter doesn't put you outside Google's.

An affiliate can't apply alone. Google's UK page sorts advertisers into four groups, and only the first starts the process with a license number of its own.

So the real question for an affiliate is whether a regulated firm will put its name behind your ads. Google has the firm warrant that it approves your promotions, and if it stops approving them it has to tell Google immediately. Your access hangs on that relationship, so treat the compliance contact at the broker as part of your stack.

The law sits behind that form. Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act says you can't, in the course of business, invite or induce someone to engage in investment activity unless you're authorized or an authorized person has approved the content. It reaches communications from outside the UK if they're capable of having an effect there, so running the campaign from Dubai doesn't take you out of it. Breaking it is a criminal offense, with up to two years in prison, a fine or both on conviction on indictment.

Since February 7, 2024 an authorized firm also needs FCA approver permission to sign off promotions for unauthorized people, unless they're members of its group or its appointed representatives. Before you build a funnel around a broker's offer, ask which of those applies to you, and get the answer in writing.

Forex affiliates have one more wall. Google's complex products policy disapproves ad destinations that provide trading signals, and its examples include "affiliate sites containing related content or broker reviews". A broker review site with no license doesn't qualify, however tidy the page looks.

Most of the EEA, and that's the biggest change of 2026. In June Google announced 24 more markets, and its regulators page gives the dates.

Outside Europe the same page lists Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Türkiye.

In the new EEA markets the order goes like this. Google notifies you in the account, you go through its compliance partner G2 and get a code, then you apply to Google with that code. Approved third parties can't apply here either. An authorized firm applies on their behalf. Google's list of categories runs from banking and credit cards to brokerages, day trading, bonds, commodities, futures and insurance, and it calls that list non-exhaustive.

Only in locations on Google's list, only from a licensed provider or aggregator, and only with certification. A few of the entries you're likely to need.

Read the list before you plan the media. France, Spain and Belgium don't appear on it as of our November 1, 2026 reading, and Google says a location that isn't listed can't be advertised. It does move. Chile and Denmark were added in October 2026. Where these ads are allowed, Google expects you to meet local law too, including leverage caps and risk warnings.

Breaches of the financial products policy don't mean instant suspension. Google says it warns at least 7 days before suspending, so open those notices the day they arrive.

Each platform draws the line somewhere else, and a funnel that clears Google can be dead on arrival elsewhere.

Creative is the other place these campaigns fall over. Meta's Prohibited Commercial Practices standard rules out investment offers with guaranteed or risk-free returns, offers that use past performance to suggest future results, and offers that claim quick returns, such as under 24 hours. In the UK the FCA's baseline is that a promotion must be clear, fair and not misleading in any medium, and it counts a Facebook post or a tweet as a promotion. A "turned $500 into $5,000 in a week" ad runs straight into Meta's past performance line, and it's hard to see it passing the FCA's test.

Three page-level rules catch buyers late, after the creative is approved.

• Google requires the business's physical address, all associated fees, and links to any accreditation you claim. They must be visible without a click or a hover.
• Meta prohibits ads that directly request personal or financial details, and credit, loan and insurance ads must target 18 or older.
• Meta's Special Ad Category applies to financial products and services if you're a US advertiser or you target the US, Canada or certain parts of Europe.

Google gives one example itself, details that don't match the register. Check these before you submit.

• Name and FRN. Your business information must exactly match the FCA record. A trading name on the form against a legal name on the register can be enough to fail.
• Email domain. You need a contact in the Google Ads account with the same email domain as the FCA-registered firm. A Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook contact has to be an identical match with the address in the FCA registration, so a media buyer's login won't do it.
• Domains. List the domains in the FCA registry and any other domains you advertise on.
• Who submits. An authorized representative, meaning an admin of the Google Ads account or of the payments profile paying for the ads. That can be an agency.
• Renewal. Verification has to be renewed periodically, and a change such as a new payments profile can trigger a fresh identity check.
• Regulatory history. Google can revoke verification or act on the account because of adverse regulatory warnings, settlements or rulings, or direct complaints from businesses. False information or a breach of the policy gets it revoked, and the account may be suspended.

No, and treat that promise as a warning sign when you hear it. Google's June update says agencies running campaigns for affected advertisers "will also need to obtain verification for in-scope advertiser accounts". The license belongs to the regulated firm, and no type of ad account transfers it.

What an agency can do is narrower, and still saves time. It can act as authorized representative if it's an admin on the account or payments profile. If you're already certified, Manager Account Certification can extend that to other accounts under the same manager account, subject to eligibility. And on TikTok, where CFD and crypto ads go through a sales representative, it's worth asking any provider who theirs is.

Our Verification Support works inside those limits. We check your legal details, your domain and your documents, then walk you through verification on Meta, Google and TikTok. The platform makes the decision, and we can't supply a license you don't hold. It's part of Adtucon Certified, a programme we run ourselves, and no platform issues it.

On TikTok and Snapchat, loans, cards and insurance sit in our Regulated band, from 4%. Forex, CFDs and trading are quoted, because the number depends on the license and the market. The fee is charged on each deposit and drops as your monthly volume grows. On Meta, Google, X and Bigo your rate depends on vertical and volume, and one message in chat gets you the number.

Send three things in that first message, before you top up anything. The product, the countries you want to target, and your regulator with your license number. If you're an affiliate, add the firm that approves your promotions.

From there, the finance vertical page shows how we handle this category, and our Google accounts page covers the platform where these rules bite first. If you're comparing providers, these questions will show you quickly who has read the policy.