Competition Committee Identifies Advertising Violations in Financial Services Sector

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Committee for Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan has initiated proceedings against several commercial banks and microfinance organizations (MFOs) for violating advertising legislation governing financial services, according to the regulator's press service on 15 July 2026.

According to the committee, a significant portion of unlawful advertising materials distributed across social media, the internet, and mass media originates within the financial sector. The watchdog noted that such advertisements frequently contain inaccurate or misleading information targeted at consumers.

Specifically, promotional materials for deposits and loans often omit essential details such as interest rates, minimum client eligibility requirements, and the validity periods of the offers. Similarly, advertisements for microloans regularly fail to disclose mandatory intermediary charges, insurance fees, and other associated payments. In other instances, advertisers present key terms and conditions in an extremely brief, vague, or illegible format.

The authority also identified instances where advertisers utilized ambiguous language, exaggerated benefits, or integrated registered trademarks and names belonging to competing organizations. The committee determined that these practices directly violate the consumer's right to receive complete and reliable information regarding financial products.

Under Article 43 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Advertising," advertisers are legally obligated to fully disclose the essential terms and conditions of financial service agreements. The law strictly prohibits abusing consumer trust or exploiting their lack of experience or knowledge for commercial gain.

The regulator announced that financial sanctions for violating advertising legislation have recently been applied to more than 20 commercial banks and microcredit organizations. Investigations have recently targeted prominent entities, including cases opened against JSC Anor Bank, JSC Tenge Bank, JSC Agrobank, Ipoteka Xizmati Group LLC, and Tasfinance Mikromoliya Tashkiloti LLC.

The Competition Committee has urged all market participants to ensure that advertising materials for financial services display complete and accurate information in a clear, accessible format. The regulator emphasized that the use of hidden text, illegibly small fonts, or text color schemes that blend into the background to obscure the terms of an offer is strictly prohibited.