Impulse & Associates, LLC
Advertising/Marketing Regulatory Compliance Policy

1.  Scope & Objectives.

Scope.  Impulse & Associates, LLC (“Company”) has adopted this Advertising/Marketing Regulatory Compliance Policy (“Compliance Policy” or “Policy”) to apply to all activities undertaken and materials utilized in all internet advertising and marketing campaigns conducted by Company or any of its registered Affiliate network member companies (collectively the “Affiliates” and each individually an “Affiliate”).

Objectives.  This Policy is intended to achieve the following objectives:

  •  Compliance with Law.  The Company should conduct its advertising and marketing campaigns and utilize campaign peripherals in accordance with federal, state and local laws and regulations and should take reasonable measures to ensure that Affiliates' programs are also legally compliant.
  •  Protection of Customers.  The Company is committed to providing consumers with information relating to high quality financial alternatives.  In completing this mission, the Company will take all reasonable steps to ensure the security of the consumer data which is gathered in the course of its marketing activities.  These goals will apply with equal force to activities conducted by the Company or by any of its registered Affiliates.
  •  Qualified Affiliate Membership.  Initial acceptance and continued membership in Company's Affiliate network should be contingent upon each Affiliate's strict compliance with this Policy with infractions addressed immediately and penalties assessed appropriately to include, without limitation, written reprimand/warning, temporary suspension of Affiliate membership, and permanent removal from the Company's Affiliate program.

2.  Administration.

Compliance Manager.  The Company's management should designate one individual to serve as compliance manager (the “Compliance Manager”) until his or her successor is appointed.  The Compliance Manager will oversee the day-to-day implementation of this Policy and supervise, and provide guidance to, the Company's department leaders and employees with respect to the specific implementation of this Policy.  In the absence of a formal appointment of a Compliance Manager, the General Counsel shall serve as the individual overseeing the implementation and operation of this Policy.

3.  New Affiliate Registration.

  1.  Company will require each prospective Affiliate who is an individual to provide to Company its first and last name, physical address, country, telephone number, email address, date of birth, and bank account information (where payments are to be made to that Affiliate) and social security number or FEIN for tax reporting purposes.
  1.  Each prospective Affiliate who is a natural person and who resides in the United States will provide Company with a photocopy of that person's driver's license or other state or federal government-issued identification card.
  1.  Each prospective Affiliate who is a natural person and who resides outside the United States will provide Company with a photocopy of that person's government-issued identification.
  1.  If the prospective Affiliate is a corporation, partnership, proprietorship, limited liability company, or other organization or legal entity - and not a natural person - Company will also require from that prospective Affiliate the first and last name, physical address, country, telephone number, email address, and date of birth for the natural person(s) who owns, manages, or controls that prospective participant.  In instances where the ownership or management is shared by more than three (3) persons, such documentation from the three individuals holding the largest share of ownership interest or the three individuals holding the top ranking management roles in their respective organization shall be adequate to satisfy this documentation requirement.
  1.  Each natural person identified as an owner, manager, or controller and who resides in the United States will provide Company with a photocopy of that person's driver's license or other state or federal government-issued identification card.
  1.  Each natural person identified as an owner, manager, or controller and who resides outside the United States will provide Company with a photocopy of that person's government-issued identification.
  1.  Before a prospective Affiliate is accepted into Company's Affiliate program, Company will:
  1.  provide to each prospective Affiliate a copy of Company's Compliance Policy;
  1.  obtain from each prospective Affiliate an express agreement to comply with Company's Compliance Policy, as well as the CAN-SPAM Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act; and
  1.  obtain from each prospective Affiliate a signed and dated statement acknowledging receipt of Company's Compliance Policy.
  1.  Any prospective Affiliate who will use sub-affiliates, employees, agents, or sub-contractors to perform work on behalf of Company or a Company customer will provide identifying information to Company concerning those persons as if each one of them were seeking qualification as and Affiliate.

This identifying information shall be provided prior to or immediately following the prospective Affiliate's and its sub-affiliate's participation in marketing activities on behalf of Company or a Company customer.  

4.  Review of New Affiliate Marketing Materials Prior to Campaign Launch.

Company will require each new Affiliate to submit to Company, at least three (3) business days prior to the start of its first email marketing campaign on behalf of Company or a Company customer, the following information:

 

  1.  a certification as to how the Affiliate obtained each email address that the Affiliate intends to use in such email marketing campaign;
  1.  the proposed “from” line, “subject” line, body, and source code for each email message intended to be used in the email marketing campaign;
  1.  the email address(es) from which each email marketing campaign will be sent; and
  1.  the proposed dates on which the email messages will be sent.
  1.  After receiving this information and prior to the start of the new Affiliate's first email marketing campaign, Company will review the email campaign for compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and Company's Compliance Policy.
  1.  If Company determines that the email marketing campaign is not in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and/or Company's Compliance Policy, Company will take immediate steps to ensure that the email marketing campaign is not initiated on behalf of Company or a Company customer and Affiliate shall not run such campaign until the same is sufficiently modified to bring it into compliance to the reasonable satisfaction of Company.
  1.  If the new Affiliate will also host a web page that consumers will access as part of the marketing campaign, the Affiliate will also submit to Company, at least three (3) business days prior to the start of the marketing campaign, the following:
  1.  a certification that no information provided by any consumer on any web page will be pre-populated on any other web page;
  1.  a certification that the Affiliate will take reasonable steps to provide for the security and confidentiality of information provided by consumers on secured web pages hosted by the Affiliate which shall be adequately encrypted and authenticated; and
  1.  a copy of any such web page, including source code, that will be made available to consumers as part of a marketing campaign on behalf of Company or a Company customer.
  1.  After receiving this information and prior to the start of any Affiliate's marketing campaign on behalf of Company or a Company customer, Company will review the web page for compliance with the Federal Trade Commission Act and Company's Compliance Policy.

If Company determines that a web page is not in compliance with the Federal Trade Commission Act and/or Company's Compliance Policy, including but not limited to the pre-populating of consumer's information and failure to take reasonable steps to protect the security and confidentiality of consumer's information, Company will take immediate steps to ensure that the marketing campaign is not initiated, and that the web page is not made available, on behalf of Company or an Company customer and Affiliate shall not run such campaign until the same is sufficiently modified to bring it into compliance to the reasonable satisfaction of Company.

5.  Affiliate Network Monitoring Program.

Whenever a current Affiliate makes a modification to its current marketing campaign including the addition of new marketing techniques, the Affiliate will need to re-qualify itself with Company as if Affiliate were seeking initial entry into Company's Affiliate network.

  1.  At least three (3) business days prior to the start of any new email marketing campaign, each Affiliate must submit to Company a sample of each unique email message that the Affiliate plans to disseminate to consumers on behalf of Company or an Company customer.
  1.  Prior to the beginning of any Affiliate's email marketing campaign, Company will review each unique sample message for compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and Company's Compliance Policy, including but not limited to, review of the message's “from” line, “subject” line, body, and opt-out mechanism.
  1.  If Company determines that any message may not comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, or Company's Compliance Policy, Company will take immediate steps to ensure that the message is not initiated to consumers on behalf of Company or a Company customer and Affiliate shall not run such campaign until the same is sufficiently modified to bring it into compliance to the reasonable satisfaction of Company.
  1.  Each Affiliate shall report all complaints received from any source, including a consumer or a regulator, to Company within 24 hours of initial receipt of any complaint.  Company will promptly and fully investigate each complaint received by Company and Affiliate shall fully cooperate with such investigation.  Company shall maintain a log or record of each complaint received and how each was resolved.  Affiliates that receive an excessive number of complaints may be subject to termination from the Company's Affiliate program.
  1.  Affiliates shall process all opt-out requests received from consumers within five (5) calendar days from receipt of request and to forward those requests to Company immediately for additional processing.

 

  1.  Company will randomly seed Affiliates' email address lists with its own email addresses to ensure that Affiliates are complying with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and Company's Compliance Policy.
  1.  Each Affiliate shall create, maintain, and retain records and documents necessary to demonstrate each Affiliate's compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and Company's Compliance Policy.

These records and documents shall include at minimum records of samples of each unique email message sent on behalf of Company or a Company customer, each unique web page operated by the Affiliate in the course of offering a product or service on behalf of Company or a Company customer, each opt-out request submitted by a consumer and processed timely by Affiliate, and each complaint submitted by a consumer.  These records are open to inspection by Company during normal business hours by providing Affiliate with no less than two (2) business days notice in advance of scheduled inspection.  The submission of the above requested records/documentation in an agreed upon report format shall satisfy this inspection provision.

6.  Mandatory Disciplinary Action Required for Non-Complaint Affiliates.

Company will immediately terminate from Company's Affiliate marketing program and cease payment to any Affiliate who Company reasonably concludes has initiated email messages or operated web pages on behalf of Company or an Company customer that violate the CAN-SPAM Act or the Federal Trade Commission Act.  Company will also immediately terminate from Company's Affiliate marketing program and cease payment to any Affiliate who has failed to provide the information required by Section 5(f) of this Policy.  For other violations of this Policy, the Compliance Manager, acting in conjunction with the General Counsel and the remainder of senior management of the Company will determine appropriate responses which may be reprimand, suspension or termination.

On the web page where a person or entity registers to become a Company Affiliate, Company will clearly and conspicuously disclose that a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, or Company's Compliance Policy will result in immediate termination of the person's or entity's Affiliate account and the forfeiture of all monies earned or owed to that person.

7.  Policy Review and Amendment.

At least annually, the Company should review this Policy to determine whether legal or business requirements warrant any amendments thereto.  The Company may at any time amend, modify, waive or revoke all or any portion of this Policy or adopt one or more new policies in lieu thereof.