The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released financial promotions data for the first quarter of 2023 ending March 31, 2023, with 2,235 promotions modified or withdrawn from 47 authorised companies following the regulator's intervention in the period.

During the quarter, the FCA issued 611 warnings to unauthorised companies and individuals, 12% of which related to cloning scams. That's up 15 percent from 531 in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The regulator approved 10 applications to voluntarily impose requirements limiting the companies' ability to disseminate or approve financial promotions. In addition, the FCA has received 6,989 reports of potentially unauthorised business. The regulator noted that retail investment and retail lending were the sectors with the highest number of financial promotions amended/withdrawn, together accounting for 90% of its interventions with authorised companies.

In February, it was revealed that the FCA had intervened in 8,582 misleading advertising and promotions in 2022, a figure 14 times higher than in 2021.