Objects such as clothing, sports equipment or books and a long etcetera that some influencers recommend sell out very quickly in certain stores. Those people have a great power of influence on many followers. Well, the world of influencers has reached finance through social networks. This Monday, the CNMV announced that it had detected some 50 influencers who "could be disseminating investment recommendations without fully complying with the regulations".
These people who sell themselves "as experts" are going to be required to comply with the obligations established in the market abuse regulation and its development rule. The activity of preparing and disseminating these recommendations is regulated in two regulations (EU regulation 596/2014 on market abuse and in the delegated regulation (EU) 2016/958 that develops it). Specifically, this regulation has as its main objective that the recommendations are presented in a clear, exact and objective manner. In addition, the expert must demonstrate that there is no conflict of interest for making said recommendation regarding the financial instruments to which it refers.
With this decision, the body chaired by Rodrigo Buenaventura seeks to ensure that people properly identify themselves and present recommendations objectively. An investment strategy involves buying, holding and selling financial instruments. They are usually issued by investment services companies or credit institutions, but more and more people are appearing on the market posing as experts in their personal capacity. It is true that the regulations also recognize the figure of expert, but they must be subject to European regulations in their way of acting.
From the CNMV they assume that these influencers, when acting on social networks or verbally, consider that they do not need to assume the legislation, when they do.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued recommendations a year ago.
