There was a 61% jump in the number of financial promotions withdrawn or amended by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority in the last year.

There was a 61% jump in the number of financial promotions withdrawn or amended by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority in the last year (to June 30), from 204 in 2012/13 up to 328 in 2013/14, according to Bovill, the specialist financial services regulatory consultancy.

Bovill says that the large increase is the result of an increasingly interventionist approach by the FCA as well as a raft of recent updates to the rules that govern financial promotions. This, it says, is because the FCA has taken on new powers to intervene in the way firms market financial products. For example, the FCA recently used its temporary product intervention powers to ban the sale of an investment instrument to retail investors for one year.

In addition, Bovill says that firms are still grappling with the FCA's new guidance in areas such as the promotion of financial products by way of social media.

Mark Spiers, the head of wealth management at the consultancy and a member of Compliance Matters' editorial panel, said: "This sharp jump shows that the FCA is scrutinising ever more intensively how the financial promotion rules are being applied and highlights the growing challenges firms face in getting it right. Although it's vital that the FCA is vigilant in protecting retail investors in particular, staying within the financial promotions rules is a very tricky balancing act for firms, as it is fairly easy to overstep the mark."

"As the regulator becomes increasingly pro-active - much more so than its predecessor, the FSA - and issues a spate of recent changes and clarifications to its guidance, many firms are

scrambling to keep up.

"Firms can't afford to make mistakes. Not only will the FCA expect decisive remedial action from any firms that get it wrong; they could also face the prospect of getting a public ticking off from

the regulator, which could be hugely damaging to their reputation."

Examples of marketing which could fall foul of the regulator include failure to include sufficient risk warnings, failure to provide a balanced view of investment potential and/or the use of

unsubstantiated claims or confusing wording.