The FPA has launched a legal challenge to an independent financial services group’s advertising campaign which compares its CEO Jo-Anne Bloch to former US presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.

Bannister Mansfield Financial Services and its director Gavin Murphy consented in the Federal Court on Friday to stop running ads placed in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph.

FPA Chairman Julie Berry says the ads, which criticise the association for not protecting the clients of financial planners, are “highly offensive”.

The matter has been adjourned until February 23 before Justice Peter Graham.