ESMA Issues Guidelines For Posting Of Investment Recommendations On Social Media

• Published date: 26 February 2024
• Law Firm: Kromann Reumert
• Author: Mr Christian Lundgren, Rune Morthorst and Cecilie Schwarz-Rosman

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published guidelines for posting of investment recommendations on social media in order to raise awareness of the requirements established by the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR"). The reason is that social media are increasingly being used to disseminate and share investment recommendations and general information about financial markets.

The guidelines emphasize that the dissemination or sharing of investment recommendations on social media is subject to the rules of the MAR and the Delegated Regulation 2016/958 supplementing the MAR ("Regulation 2016/958") concerning investment recommendations and the relevant requirements.

What is an investment recommendation?

"Investment recommendations" is defined broadly in the MAR as "information recommending or suggesting an investment strategy, explicitly or implicitly, concerning one or several financial instruments or...