Why tight controls matter for financial content on social media, says FPC’s O’Shaughnessy

Financial Planning Corporation (FPC) is a regulated financial planning firm founded 40 years ago, gaining coveted Chartered status in 2008. As the U.K. financial regulator, the FCA promises to clamp down on unregulated “finfluencers” on social media. Moira O’Shaughnessy, managing partner and head of risk and compliance at FPC, explains why her firm takes a deliberately cautious approach to social media communications.

“We use social media to share commentary, not to promote products, and we apply the same level of care to those posts as we do to regulated advice,” she says.

O’Shaughnessy explains that the line between insight and inducement can be thin. Even non-promotional content, if misinterpreted, can carry compliance risks, particularly under the Consumer Duty rules, which state that all communications must support good client outcomes.