The Italian Securities Commission published a targeted warning to both retail investors and “finfluencers”, highlighting the risks of relying on investment tips distributed through social media and the potential for investors to make rushed, superficial or emotional decisions driven by “herd behaviour” or by wrongly treating finfluencers as equivalent to authorised professionals. For investors, the notice flags offers presented as highly profitable and risk-free and points to the need to consider conflicts of interest that may affect finfluencers, reiterating the basic risk-return relationship whereby higher returns generally imply higher risks. For finfluencers, it stresses that any activity must comply with relevant European rules on investment recommendations and market abuse, including requirements on the correctness of information and transparency around potential conflicts of interest. The warning forms part of the international Global Week of Action Against Unlawful Finfluencers, involving supervisors in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, and follows prior positions on the topic by IOSCO and the European Securities and Markets Authority. Consob also supported the initiative by publishing a short video that uses the “Ponzi scheme” as a starting point to caution the public about online and social-media financial scams.

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