GC23/2: Financial promotions on social media

Read GC23/2 (PDF) 

Why we are consulting

All financial promotions should be fair, clear and not misleading. Our financial promotion rules are designed to be technology neutral and apply across all channels used to advertise, including social media.

To ensure firms understand how our rules apply and our expectations for financial promotions on social media, we are publishing this guidance consultation.

The Consumer Duty will strengthen our expectations of firms communicating or approving financial promotions. We want firms to consider this guidance alongside their obligations under the Duty to help them deliver good outcomes for retail customers.

Unauthorised persons, such as social media influencers, who promote a regulated financial product or service without approval of an FCA authorised person may be committing a criminal offence. We also include guidance to provide additional clarity on when a communication might constitute a financial promotion.

Who this is for

This guidance will be of interest to: 

• Consumers and consumer groups
• Authorised firms communicating or approving financial promotions on social media
• Cryptoasset firms communicating financial promotions on social media
• Industry groups and trade bodies 
• Influencers and unauthorised persons communicating financial promotions on social media
• Social media platforms 
• Overseas firms communicating financial promotions to UK consumers on social media  

Next steps

We welcome views by 11 September 2023. 

Online response form 

Please send us your responses using the form on our website, or alternatively email your responses to [email protected]. 

We will review all responses to this consultation and, subject to responses received, intend to publish final guidance later in 2023.

Background 

In 2015 we published guidance on our approach to the supervision of financial promotions in social media (FG15/4). Since then, how social media is used to promote financial products has changed considerably.  We are therefore consulting on updated financial promotions guidance for social media to reflect the current social media landscape. We plan to retire FG15/4 when the new guidance is finalised.