Regulating Finfluencers

Abstract

The accessibility of investment advice on social media platforms has significantly increased in recent years. Finance influencers and content creators, so-called ‘Finfluencers’, provide their audience with unpaid or paid financial advice on social media, featuring investment strategies relating to meme stocks, contracts for difference trading, or cryptocurrencies. This article examines the practices and business models of Finfluencers as well as how EU law, three national jurisdictions, and five platforms regulate their activities. The underlying objectives are to understand the activities and regulation of Finfluencers and critically analyse whether the current framework sufficiently protects consumers.

Keywords: Finfluencers, Unfair Commercial Practices, Financial Regulation, Platform Governance, Consumer Law