Financial Planners may still feel like they are “in the dark” about using social media in a way to avoid landing in regulatory hot water, a compliance firm says.
Archiving and compliance company Smarsh believes the FCA’s new guidance, released last month, leaves much to advisers' discretion still.

See previous story on the FCA guidance here

The regulator’s document on using social media was designed to crack down on misleading financial promotions through services such as Twitter.

A consultation was launched in August after "extensive conversations with industry" over the past 18 months during which firms explained difficulties in complying with some of the FCA rules.

In particular, this was the case for the financial promotion rule for character-limited services such as Twitter.

Tracey McDermott, FCA director of supervision and authorisations, said: “Financial promotions, whether on social media or traditional media, must give customers the right information and meet our requirements to be fair, clear and not misleading.

"We believe this guidance reflects a sensible approach that allows the industry to innovate using new forms of media and at the same time ensures customers get the right level of protection."

But Smarsh regional director James Thompson said while it was a good starting point, many of the “finer points” had been left open to interpretation.

He said: “Advisers can be forgiven for still feeling left in the dark. The bar has been raised for social media compliance and firms can no longer rely on content management or listening tools alone to manage the related activity and risk.”

Smarsh has produced three webinars for advisers aimed at helping them use social media without incurring the wrath of the regulator. An e-book guide has also been created. The webinars, available from yesterday and running through May, have been produced in association with Bridget Greenwood, founder of Financial Social Media UK, and a regular speaker with the IFP.

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Ms Greenwood said:

"Many adviser firms have been waiting for the new guidance from the FCA before embracing social media. The recent guidance from the regulator means these firms can now start to assess and implement social media into their business.

"It's clear that a well thought out policy, governance and process is key to remaining compliant.

Those advisers who have successfully integrated social media into their business will already be reaping the results through a whole new world of lead generation."

Among the key guidance points from the FCA were that each communication, such as a tweet, a Facebook insertion or page, or web page, needs to be considered individually and comply with the relevant rules.

It reminded firms of requirements to include risk warnings or other statements in promotions for certain products/services.

The rules are media-neutral and therefore apply to social media as they would to any other medium, officials said.

To overcome problems of character limitation it suggested inserting images, including the use of infographics, into communications such as tweets, which allows relatively unrestricted information to be conveyed.