Consumer protection remains a high priority with regulators and HOW you say something in advertisements has become just as important as WHAT you say to avoid a claim of “deception”. What can be said in advertisements? What do you have to disclose?  Are there “triggering terms” that require additional information?

All advertising is subject to a variety of deposit and lending regulation rules. That’s the easy part.  Regulators have also jumped on the “UDAAP” bandwagon to make sure that nothing in the advertising and marketing practices is “unfair, deceptive, or abusive”.  The CFPB has issued multi-million-dollar enforcement actions for UDAAP violations, but even banks supervised by the OCC, Federal Reserve and FDIC must pay attention to the “new normal” of consumer protection. The FDIC has an entire section in their Compliance Exam manual called “Evaluating Consumer Harm”.

Topics include:

• FDIC signs and advertising rules
• Understanding UDAAP “traps”, what is likely to be considered deceptive, unfair, or abusive? How can you evaluate UDAAP advertising risks?
• Advertising rules under Reg. Z for mortgage loans and open-end plans from the Credit CARD Act; rules for consumer loan products in Regulation Z
• Consumer deposit products in Truth in Savings
• Typical Lobby Disclosure signs
• Fair lending concerns for marketing lending products
• "Equal Housing Lender" and the Fair Housing Act requirements
• Promotions - drawings, giveaways bonus rules;
• Restrictions on advertising non-deposit investment sales
• Handling complaints about advertising and marketing

This session would be beneficial for those involved in the product development and marketing, including the marketing department, compliance officers, auditors, managers, sales and service staff, call center employees, and anyone who is involved in product sales.


Susan Costonis is a compliance consultant and trainer. She specializes in compliance management along with deposit and lending regulatory training. Susan has successfully managed compliance programs and exams for institutions that ranged from a community bank to large multi-state bank holding companies. She has been a compliance officer for institutions supervised by the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve. Susan has been a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager since 1998, completed the ABA Graduate Compliance School, and graduated from the University of Akron and the Graduate Banking School of the University of Colorado. She regularly presents to financial institution audiences in several states and “translates” complex regulations into simple concepts by using humor and real life examples.