The Financial Conduct Authority published the outcomes of an international “week of action” to stop illegal finfluencers and unauthorised financial promotions on social media. Seventeen regulators participated in coordinated enforcement activity, consumer awareness campaigns and educational programmes for finfluencers who want to act responsibly. In the UK, the FCA secured a guilty plea from Aaron Chalmers for illegal promotions on social media and commenced criminal proceedings against two further individuals for similar offences. Disruption and supervisory action included four targeted warning letters to suspected unauthorised promoters, 34 warning alerts against unauthorised firms or individuals with a further 14 warnings updated, and 120 account takedown requests to social media platforms. On Meta platforms, the FCA identified 1,267 illegal financial adverts reaching at least 2,338,372 UK accounts, with 66% linked to firms or individuals already on the FCA Warning List. The regulator called on social media platforms to take a more proactive role in stopping illegal financial promotions at source and reminded consumers to use the FCA Firm Checker and Warning List. The initiative followed a similar international week of action in June 2025 involving eight other regulators.
Financial Conduct Authority 2026-04-24
Financial Conduct Authority leads global crackdown on illegal finfluencers with guilty plea and 120 takedown requests
The Financial Conduct Authority reported outcomes from an international “week of action” involving 17 regulators targeting illegal finfluencers and unauthorised financial promotions on social media, combining enforcement and consumer education. In the UK, it secured a guilty plea from Aaron Chalmers, commenced criminal proceedings against two others, issued warnings, requested 120 social media account takedowns and identified 1,267 illegal financial adverts on Meta platforms, mostly linked to entities on its Warning List. The FCA urged social media platforms to act more proactively and reminded consumers to use its Firm Checker and Warning List.