The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has led international action to stop illegal finfluencers putting consumers’ money at risk.

Seventeen regulators across the globe took part in the week of action, which included enforcement activity, consumer awareness campaigns and educational programmes for finfluencers who want to act responsibly.

Finfluencers are social media personalities who use their platform to promote financial products and share insights and advice with their followers. Many financial social media content creators are acting legitimately and not breaking any laws.

There are other finfluencers that tout products or services illegally and without authorisation through online videos and posts. They use the pretence of a lavish lifestyle, often falsely, to promote success.

In the UK, the FCA secured a guilty plea from Geordie Shore’s Aaron Chalmers for illegal promotions on social media, with criminal proceedings commencing against a further two individuals for similar offences.

It has also sent four targeted warning letters to individuals suspected of engaging in authorised financial promotions and has also issued 34 warning alerts against unauthorised firms individuals, and updated an additional 14 warnings.

Furthermore, the regulator has made 120 account takedown requests to social media platforms hosting illegal finfluencer content. Within these accounts, the FCA identified 1,267 illegal financial adverts, which reached a minimum of over two million UK accounts. Two thirds of these adverts were from firms or individuals already on the FCA’s warning list.

The FCA is calling for social media platforms to step up and play a more proactive role in stopping illegal financial promotions at source, with the regulator stating that these platforms are not doing enough to uphold their own policies to block illegal content.

Executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, Steve Smart, stated: "This collective push with international partners is vital in helping to protect millions of consumers from harm. We will only make real progress in the fight against financial crime if every part of the system plays its role - including social media firms."

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