Financial Services & Social Media

This white paper provides an overview of the rulings from FINRA that relate to social media and organizes that information into three categories: Interactive Electronic Communications, Third-Party Content, and Supervision of Employees’ Use of Social Media Also provides an overview of all social media and related interactive venues. It offers a way to assess each of these categories along key criteria to determine if it qualifies as Interactive Electronic Communications, plus addresses the phenomenon of Content Sharing so common in the social media. It also provides thoughts on what venues should fall under the categories of Virtual Appearances and what technology should be added to the category of Electronic Correspondence. Finally, it addresses the differences between social media programs that are managed and implemented by a small social media or marketing group within a financial services company and what guidance and safeguards need to be in place for registered reps’ use of the social media.