Short answer
The CAN-SPAM Act is the U.S. law governing commercial email. It requires accurate sender and subject information, a physical postal address, a clear way to opt out, and honoring opt-out requests within 10 business days. It applies to all commercial email, including B2B.
CAN-SPAM Act explained
CAN-SPAM does not require opt-in consent, but it prohibits deceptive headers and subject lines, requires messages to be identified as advertising where applicable, and makes companies responsible for email sent on their behalf. Penalties are assessed per email, so mistakes at scale are costly. Other regimes, such as Canada's CASL and the UK and EU rules, require consent and are stricter.
Financial firms also need their marketing email reviewed and archived under SEC and FINRA rules.
How Vantage Point helps: we configure HubSpot and Salesforce email programs with compliant footers, opt-out handling and suppression lists.
Frequently asked questions
Does CAN-SPAM require consent before emailing?
No. CAN-SPAM is opt-out based, but other laws such as CASL and GDPR-based rules require consent.
How fast must unsubscribes be honored?
Within 10 business days under CAN-SPAM. Most platforms process them immediately.