Plans to ensure the proper use of social media by finance firms to give consumers confidence and stamp out misleading promotions have been discussed at The House of Lords.
The FCA and the Investment Management Association were two of the influential financial bodies attending a summit yesterday afternoon on the industry's social media conduct.
A number of leading companies also attended the event including Microsoft, various banks and asset managers.
Earlier this year the FCA published proposed guidelines on how firms should use sites such as Twitter in order to stamp down on misleading financial promotions.
A consultation recently ended, with officials still in the process of drawing up the finalised guidance based on this.
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The summit at Parliament was organised by those behind The Social Media Charter, a group of barristers and social media experts, who have created a standard and training programme to follow.
It was instigated by Kitty Parry, chief executive of PR firm Templars. By supporting the charter, firms commit to putting a comprehensive implementation plan in place, the group said.
This includes training from lawyers, benchmarking and listening tools, and a membership programme to ensure best practice. At the end of the training firms get a charter certificate, which is designed to be "proof to their customer they are listening to their needs and to the regulators of industry leading best practice".
Ms Parry, founder of the charter, said: "Transparency and a more demonstrable commitment to being customer focused, will be vital to increasing trust in the industry at a crucial time such as pre-implementation of the pension reforms.
"Social media will be tremendously important to increasing dialogue from the most senior levels of the industry to those at the client facing roles with all customers including those at vulnerable moments such as immediately pre-retirement. We are now providing an opportunity for clarity around the guidelines to ensure firms can really build their businesses using social media, safely."
Stuart Popham, vice chairman EMEA Banking at Citi, said: "Social media provides huge benefits but it brings it's challenges. It is obvious that the financial services industry has to ensure that social media is only used in a responsible manner to avoid further mishaps and to demonstrate to all that its business is well managed."
Lord Tom Strathclyde said: "As social media matures into a business tool it is vital that consumers feel protected in the same way as they do in other media. These guidelines from the FCA provide a valuable means of doing this.
"The charter certificate gives financial companies the opportunity to give consumers the confidence they need when looking for financial products. It proves to customers that these banks, insurance and investment providers are working hard to drive ethical behaviour, trust and social media best practice at the heart of their firm."

The firms that attended the event were:
Aberdeen Asset Management
Algebris
Alliance Bernstein Ltd
American Express
Atom Bank
Banking Standards Review
Barclays
Barings
BBA
Blackstone
Bloomberg
Canada Life Asset Management
Cass Business School
Citi
SEB
Coutts
Credit Suisse
FCA
House of Lords
HSBC
Investment Management Association
Institute of Customer Service
Investec
J Stern & Co
Lloyds Banking Group
Microsoft
Morgan Stanley
RSA
Schroders
TCI Fund
Threadneedle
Waverton Investment Management
World Economic Forum
Industry Support

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