Majority of financial promotions misleading says Grant Thornton

The firm says 76% of financial promotions fail to meet the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) standards and in some cases are wildly misleading. Grant Thornton reviewed a sample group of 117 financial promotions from 94 financial services companies ranging from newspaper adverts to websites and other literature during the latter part of 2005. It found firms advertising deals or cheaper premiums for headline “grabbing purposes” which were not available in practice with more expensive premiums being quoted when researchers telephoned the companies in question. It also found the use of...