A video runs for three days, brings in cheap registrations, and then the account is restricted. The creative had a balance on screen for two seconds. Nothing else about it was unusual. That is the shape of most enforcement on short-form video: the format pushes creators toward proof, and proof in a financial context is a returns claim.
TikTok publishes advertising policies that place financial services in a restricted grouping. The published structure follows the same logic as other large platforms: some financial subcategories are prohibited outright, others are permitted only in specified markets and only where the advertiser can evidence local authorisation, and everything permitted still has to clear content rules on claims, disclosure and audience. Availability varies by market and the categories are revised, so the current policy text is the only reliable source for what is open today.
The three separate gates
Firms tend to treat this as one approval. It is three. The first gate is whether the product category is advertisable in the target market at all. Leveraged retail products sit at the strict end, and in several markets the answer for an unauthorised advertiser is simply no. The second gate is the advertiser: a verified business, a matching billing entity, a domain it controls and, where required, evidence of authorisation. The third is the creative and the destination page, reviewed together.
The third gate is where trading firms lose ads they thought were fine. The recurring disapproval reasons are outcome claims, pressure and vocabulary. Outcome claims include account screenshots, profit figures, monthly percentages and any framing where a result is presented as attainable rather than exceptional. Pressure means countdowns, limited spots and language that pushes a financial decision on a timer. Vocabulary means words borrowed from savings and investment when the product is a leveraged speculative one. The same principles behind CFD marketing restrictions in national rulebooks show up almost line for line.
Creators are the harder problem
Paid ads are at least reviewed by a system you can argue with. Creator content is not, until it becomes an issue, and by then the video has run. A partner paid to talk about your product is making a financial promotion in most regulated markets, whether or not either party thinks of it that way. If that creator is not authorised, and you are, the promotion is being made on your behalf and lands in your file.
The workable structure is narrow and boring. Written terms that set out what may and may not be said. Pre-approval of the script rather than approval after publication. A required disclosure of the commercial relationship, both in the caption and through the platform's own branded content tools. A ban on any figure, screenshot or claim about results. And a real ability to require takedown, which means the contract has to say so and someone has to watch the output. Firms running dozens of creators without any of this are carrying more risk than their paid account ever did. The same discipline applies to signal and copy-trading promotion, discussed in copy trading and signal providers.
Platform policies vary by market, are updated without notice and are applied by review teams whose decisions you cannot audit. This is a description of mechanisms, not advice. Take advice from counsel in every market you promote in, and read the current published policy before you plan a campaign.
Age, audience and the parts nobody plans for
Financial advertising rules interact with audience rules. Restrictions on targeting younger users apply, and a platform with a young audience profile enforces them attentively. Creative that reads as aimed at students or first-time earners attracts scrutiny even when the targeting is technically set correctly. Firms selling evaluation products should be especially careful here, because the promise implicit in a challenge product is attractive precisely to people with no capital, and that is the audience regulators are most protective of.
Geography is the other quiet one. Broad delivery settings put impressions into markets you have no permission in, and on a platform where a single video can travel far past its targeting, organic spread compounds the problem. Restricting country delivery deliberately, and keeping the content itself market-appropriate, is the only version of this that holds up.
What a compliant account looks like
The advertiser is the licensed operating company, verified under its own name, sending traffic to a domain it owns. The landing page states the entity, the regulator and the licence reference, carries a plain risk warning before any form, and describes the product in the same words as the ad. The creative teaches something or explains a mechanism instead of demonstrating a result. Where the product is a simulated evaluation, the video says so, in the video, not only in the small print, which matters more as prop firm regulation develops.
That is a duller video than the one your growth team wants to run. The tradeoff is honest: educational trading content on short-form video generally costs more per registration than the version with a balance on screen, and it survives. Firms that build the channel on the second version get a good quarter and then start again with a new account, which is the most expensive way to buy traffic there is.
"The creative that performs on that feed and the creative a regulator would accept are usually two different videos. If you cannot make the compliant one work, the channel is not for you yet."
— Alex Onta, Executive Director, SINGUARD
Key Takeaways
- Financial services sit in a restricted advertising grouping, with category availability and authorisation evidence varying by market.
- Three gates apply: is the category advertisable there, is the advertiser verified and authorised, and does the creative plus landing page pass.
- Creator videos are financial promotions made on your behalf, so script pre-approval and takedown rights belong in the contract.
- Broad delivery and viral spread push content into markets you hold no permission in, so set country delivery deliberately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a firm advertise leveraged trading products on short-form video at all?
In some markets and not in others. Financial services is a restricted category, availability depends on the market and the subcategory, and permitted advertisers are generally expected to evidence authorisation where the local regime requires one. The current published policy for each target market is the only reliable answer.
Are creator videos treated differently from paid ads?
The platform reviews paid ads before delivery and creator content mostly after publication, but a regulator treats a paid promotion as a financial promotion either way. If the creator is not authorised and you are, the promotion is made on your behalf. Written terms, script approval, disclosure and takedown rights are the practical controls.
Why do account screenshots cause so many disapprovals?
A visible balance or profit figure presents a result as attainable, which reads as an outcome claim under both platform policy and national financial promotion rules. Trading carries a high risk of loss and most retail accounts lose money, so a screenshot without that context is misleading by construction.
About the Author
Alex Onta is an Executive Director at SINGUARD. He built eTrader, the terminal, the mobile apps, eTrader Broker, Copytrading, Business and Community, along with the worldwide clustered-server infrastructure it all runs on, with his brother Roman Onta helping on the design, and he leads that division today. Together with Roman he builds the Prop Firm CRM, the Broker CRM, Scalegram and CopySignals, and the two of them carry worldwide compliance, payment processing and international business structuring side by side. He lives and works in Dubai for most of the year. Meet the executive duo leading Singuard's five divisions.