Financial Social Media Compliance

Financial Advisors are accustomed to being regulated. All public communications, regardless of the medium, must adhere to the regulatory guidelines.

New media and electronic communication such as social media and blogging are not much different than any form of public communication. There are a number of best practices that financial advisors can adhere to in order to stay compliant with their online marketing and communication efforts.

Regardless of how your business or firm is structured, you will need to either ask your firm for social media policy guidelines and parameters or develop a social media policy for your practice. In addition, you will need an archiving solution in place for the recording and monitoring of your social media activity. The good news is that many firms have begun to develop policies and adopted technology solutions for archiving interactive social media communications! It is imperative that you understand the rules of the regulatory guidelines that you or your firm fall under as well as the specific social media policy and guidelines that you are subject to before you begin to engage or participate in social media activity.

Below is an overview of some best practices to follow as well as a number of resources from around the web regarding social media for financial advisors.

Blogging:

1)Neither the SEC or FINRA has specific regulations regarding blogging, but you should always be aware of the applicable rules surrounding electronic communications and advertising. Blog posts and articles should be pre-approved if you are affiliated with a Broker/Dealer. They are considered to be “advertisements”. We also recommend that you archive your RSS feed for your blog for an added layer of protection and we offer this service to the financial advisors on the Wired Advisor Blogging Platform.

2)If you are planning to provide investment and financial planning commentary, make sure to steer clear of specific investment recommendations unless you have the approval to discuss from your firm. Do not make exaggerated statements or guarantees about past performance being indicative of future performance. Remember, it is just as if you were typing an email, writing a letter, or speaking in public. You should always think carefully about what you say through text, video, or audio communications. It is best to keep investment discussions general in nature.

3)If you allow commenting on your blog, you should monitor those comments carefully and delete any that are inappropriate or misleading.

4)Providing a “disclosure” or “disclaimer” page on your blog describing your views and the views of those who comment on your blog is a recommended practice.  In addition, you should provide a statement about the states that you are licensed to conduct business in.

5)Always give credit for your information sources, whether it be articles, concepts, quotes, images, slides, or videos!

Social Networking Sites:

1)Client testimonials are not allowed on your social media profile sites. For example, you cannot display client testimonials on Linked In or Facebook for example.

2)Your profile pages will most likely need to be pre-approved by the firm or Broker/Dealer you are affiliated with (if applicable), and new approvals are needed any time you update your “static” profiles.

3)Social media activity is considered to be “interactive” and therefore does not require pre-approval (unless your firm requires it), but should be archived and reviewed regularly by firm officials.  It is imperative to archive all of your social media activity and there are several firms that provide inexpensive tools that will do this for you.

Both Arkovi and Socialware provide affordable solutions for individual financial advisors and firms

4)Social media communication is considered to be a “public appearance”. Keep personal and business interactions separate whenever possible, and conduct yourself professionally at all times!

5)Social media communication should be archived regardless of device! (laptop, desktop, mobile phone, Ipad, etc.)

6)Check your firm policy on communicating within social network messaging or email systems. Rules vary here. If any message pertains to business, it needs to be captured or copied to your business email address. Some social networks do not provide this functionality.

7)When updating your status on social networking sites, be prudent about any links, images or videos that you share which could be construed as a “recommendation” or “endorsement” of a company, products, or services.

Be sure to download and review these detailed guides offered by Socialware, a leader in the industry for social media monitoring tools.

NEW! FINRA Notice 11-39 Highlights via Socialware (FINRA’s latest release on social networking in financial services)

FINRA-Companion-Guide-to-Social-Network-Compliance

Guide-To-LinkedIn-Social-Networking-Compliance

Guide-To-Facebook-Social-Networking-Compliance

Guide-To-Twitter-Social-Networking-Compliance

Arkovi is another leading provider for social media archiving, compliance & market intelligence for financial advisors.

Additional resources from across the web:

The Good News/Bad News of FINRA’s Social Media Guidelines

“Advisor Tweets” Compliance Archive of Posts – Pat Allen

FINRA/SEC Compliance Guide for Bloggers – Susan Weiner

Summary of Social Media Compliance and Supervision Solutions – Adam Verchinski

“FP Pad” Archive of Compliance-Related Posts – Bill Winterberg

Fact-Right-Social-Media-Compliance-Overview

With the WIRED ADVISOR™ financial advisor blogging and social media solution, you will learn how to build your online brand while adopting best practices for navigating the regulatory environment!