The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the relevant national authorities in the EU countries have announced that they are raising awareness of the requirements set out in the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), which apply to the publication of investment advice on social media, and warning about the market manipulation risks of such publications.。

Transparency and accuracy are key when publishing information on social media, especially when making investment recommendations。Therefore, if you are a financial influencer, technologist, or simply interested in financial investing, you need to understand the rules established under the MAR framework and be able to identify investment proposals。

What is Investment Advice?？

According to the MAR, investment advice can be any post, video or any other type of public communication (including social media) in which an individual directly or indirectly provides advice or ideas on buying or selling financial instruments or how to form a portfolio of financial instruments.。

Even if a person uses "non-technical" language to directly or indirectly make suggestions or ideas about buying or selling financial instruments or how to form a portfolio of financial instruments, it may constitute investment advice。

Where are the rules?？

In the framework of the MAR consisting of Regulation No. 596-2014 and the relevant authorizations and implementing regulations。

What are the specific requirements？

General requirements require any person providing investment advice to:

• Include the identity of the producer of the proposal: the name, title, and date and time of the proposal of all persons involved。
• Ensure that investment advice is presented objectively, clearly distinguishing facts from explanations, estimates and opinions。Confirm that all sources of information are reliable and, in case of doubt, clearly state。
• explicit disclosure of any conflict of interest to bring to the attention of investors。Each proposal must include an interest or conflict of interest disclosure when the proposal is published through different social media channels。

The additional requirements require "professionals" and "experts" to disclose information such as:

• Overview of valuation basis / methodology and underlying assumptions used。
• Investment horizon and appropriate risk warnings。
• Frequency at which the proposal is scheduled to be updated。
• Whether the recommendations were revised after disclosure to the issuer。
• Whether to hold more than 0 of the issuer's total issued share capital..5% net long or short position。

What happens if you don't comply？

Individuals or institutions that do not comply will be subject to sanctions, which can be imposed by competent national bodies for certain types of violations, with sanctions varying from member State to member State。