Misleading Advertising By Malawi Savings Bank

The Competition and Fair Trading Commission ordered Malawi Savings Bank to cease and desist from publishing misleading adverts. The order was made by the Commission at its 38th meeting held on 31st January 2014.

Investigations by the Commission established that MSB published an advert in one of the local media extending warehouse receipt credit facilities to traders who deposited their commodities for sale at the Auction Holdings Commodity Exchange (AHCX). The bank therefore invited traders who did not have an account with MSB to open an account so that they could access the credit facility.

The Commission, however, found that some traders were not able to access the facility despite opening an account and fulfilling all the given criteria conditions. To this effect, it was the Commission’s view that by not including all the necessary information or conditions that would have guided the consumers (traders) in making an informed decision, MSB depicted a false impression through its advertisement and therefore contravened section 43(1) (d) and 43 (1) (k) of the Competition and Fair Trading Act.

The Board therefore ordered MSB to publish a revised