On 30 April 2025, the Treasury Committee heard evidence from the FCA as part of an inquiry on finfluencers.
Steve Smart, Joint Executive Director for Enforcement and Market Oversight, and Lucy Casteldine, Director of Consumer Investments highlighted the illegality of certain finfluencer content, which often leads consumers to unauthorised brokers. They also noted the role of social media algorithms in promoting finfluencer content to consumers who may not be actively following the relevant accounts.
The FCA is working with technology and social media platforms to address the issue, but has found that responsiveness varies, with some platforms taking up to 6 weeks to act on takedown requests.
With many perpetrators operating from jurisdictions outside of the UK, the FCA is collaborating with international regulators. In October 2024, 19 finfluencers were interviewed by the FCA in a targeted action against social media account holders, and 40 alerts were raised, approximately 60% of which related to perpetrators based overseas.
In terms of future developments, the session considered the possibility of extending the maximum sentence for financial promotions offences from two years to five years. Smart noted that this would require legislation, and that the FCA is currently engaged with HM Treasury and the Home Office regarding this matter.