THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has received an average of five complaints a year against finfluencers, who use social media to share tips and insights on finance-related topics such as investing, saving and budgeting, over the past five years.
Most of the complaints received were in relation to remarks made by finfluencers who were not providing any financial advice, and hence were not subject to MAS regulation, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan said in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 13). The Financial Advisers Act (FAA) regulates finfluencers who provide financial advice. Those who do so must be licensed.
Providing financial advice refers to individuals being remunerated for making recommendations or expressing opinions on the buying, selling or holding of investment products. Those who make recommendations or expressions regularly will also be considered as having provided financial advice, even if they are not paid, under MAS guidelines.
“Posting of general educational content is not financial advice,” Tan said.
He noted that enforcement action will be taken against those providing financial advice without a licence, adding that in the past three years, enforcement action has been taken against six individuals, none of whom were finfluencers.
In a supplementary question, People’s Action Party Member of Parliament Melvin Yong asked whether finfluencers have a duty of care to their viewers, when promoting financial products while denying that they are providing financial advice. He also asked whether MAS could work towards industry guidelines to ensure finfluencers’ and consumers’ due diligence.
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In response, the minister of state reiterated that only financial advisory firms and their representatives who are regulated under the FAA are allowed to provide financial advisory services on investment products, and therefore a finfluencer who provides financial advice must be appointed as a representative of a financial advisory firm.
Financial institutions that employ finfluencers to advertise their products or services are expected to ensure that information is presented in a clear and balanced format that highlights key features and risks.
“That said, we regularly advise the public to only deal with and invest through persons regulated by the MAS,” he added. “We also list unregulated persons who may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or authorised by MAS on our investor alert list.”
Consumers who suspect any wrongdoing should lodge a complaint for review, he said.
