Brokerages and Fund Companies are often entangled within a web of legal and compliance rules and regulations preventing them from openly saying what they’d like. And in an effort to prevent illegal or insider trading, brokers and their advertisements must include verbiage detailing phrases any investor has read or seen numerous times such as the mumbo-jumbo at the bottom of this ING ad.
But the question is ”should the same regulations apply within the social-media scene?”
FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) seems to think so.
Investment firms can be held liable for what their employees post to their Facebook pages, for what they tweet, and what they blog.
Therefore, it is highly advisable companies set regulations and brief their employees before the company itself finds itself with a large target painted on its backside. FINRA is looking and it will only be a matter of weeks, maybe days before the Wall Street Journal or CNBC reports on the latest violation of non-compliance or SEC investigations.
