In January 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) provided financial industry professionals with guidelines to govern their social media interactions with the general public.
Providing its registered members with guidelines about how to communicate financial information online is nothing new for FINRA; as early as 1999, the regulatory body began dictating how members should communicate within Internet chat rooms.
In FINRA’s eyes, its new social media guidelines are an extension of their previous Internet communication advice.
Why should individual finance professionals and finance firms follow FINRA’s guidance?
Here are five important reasons.