Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they will take to prevent speculative investment platforms from creating fake new stories online.

The UK’s financial promotions regime is designed to ensure that consumers are provided with clear and accurate information that enables them to make appropriate decisions for their individual circumstances. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for enforcing the regime and can take action against any financial promotions that are illegal or which do not comply with its rules. This includes the promotion of speculative investments via false news stories.

The FCA is taking action to address illegal financial promotions shared online. Last month, the FCA led a week of action against illegal financial influencers, which resulted in one guilty plea, 4 targeted warning letters, 34 warning alerts, and 120 takedown requests to social media platforms.

The FCA has also worked closely with large search engines and social media platforms to ensure that they only allow financial promotions that are made or approved by FCA-authorised firms. In addition, the Online Safety Act requires all user-to-user (such as social media services) and search services to remove illegal content including fraud. Non-compliant services could face a fine of up to a maximum of £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is higher.