The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) have partnered with Sharon Gaffka, ex-love island contestant, to issue a stark warning to “Get Rich Quick Schemes” being promoted by finfluencers.

The FCA and ASA will be contacting influencers and their agents, to provide warnings on illegal financial promotion. The warning will include an infographic, designed specifically for influencers. Influencers will be advised to consider the advice from the FCA and the legalities around promotion before accepting brand deals.

It is anticipated that Influencer agents and the Influencer Marketing Trade Body will attend an open roundtable discussion on promoting financial products in the near future as there are serious concerns around the impact of promotion on followers.  

Finfluencers are on the rise on social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. They provide finance focused advice on how to make money, save and invest.  

Recently, we have seen high profile individuals including Kim Kardashian and Floyd May Weather facing legal claims due to the promotion of cryptocurrencies on Instagram which, it later transpired, were fraudulent investment schemes. In those cases, the fraud claims failed as it could not be proven whether those defrauded saw the celebrity promotions.

In light of the FCA’s new approach, similar claims are likely against finfluencers or those promoting financial investments, savvy budgeting tips or investment schemes which fall foul of the regulations. We are likely to see the FCA clamp down on finfluencers, issuing fines to those who continue to promote unsafe investments or fail to provide warnings in respect of those investments.  

The team at JMW have been advising influencers, talent management agencies and marketing agencies on how to avoid disputes with the FCA and ASA as well as providing representation and guidance should you become embroiled in a dispute with the regulator.