FCA logs 74 finfluencer enforcement actions in 2025, up 7,300% from a single case two years earlier
FCA logs 74 finfluencer enforcement actions in 2025, up 7,300% from a single case two years earlier #
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority recorded 74 enforcement actions against so-called “finfluencers” in 2025, up 174% from 27 actions the prior year and 7,300% higher than the single action taken in 2023.
The figures come from a Freedom of Information request submitted to the FCA by broker comparison platform BrokerChooser. Between 2020 and 2025 the watchdog recorded 112 enforcement actions in total against financial influencers, including warning alerts, cease-and-desist letters, interviews under caution, criminal proceedings and formal arrests.
The mix of action types shifted year on year. In 2024 the FCA brought nine criminal enforcement actions but issued no warning alerts and made no arrests. In 2025, warning alerts accounted for 50 of the 74 actions, while three cases escalated to criminal proceedings and three others resulted in arrests. Across the six-year period, around 13% of all actions involved criminal proceedings or arrest. The FCA also issued 650 takedown requests to social media platforms to remove non-compliant content.
The FCA joined 16 other financial regulators worldwide in a coordinated “week of action” in 2025 that combined enforcement activity with consumer awareness campaigns and educational programmes aimed at influencers seeking to operate within the rules. The FCA’s executive director of enforcement, Steve Smart, said the “collective push with international partners is vital in helping to protect millions of consumers from harm.”
BrokerChooser’s companion research found that more than two in five UK consumers who acted on social media investment tips reported losing money as a result. A separate analysis of 100 TikTok trading videos found that 80% contained potentially misleading information, and only 6% encouraged viewers to conduct their own research before acting.
Adam Nasli, head broker analyst at BrokerChooser, noted that while regulation cannot eliminate market risk outright, it “significantly reduces the likelihood of bad actors holding on to traders’ money and the emergence of misleading structures and uneven playing fields.”
Enforcement remains difficult. Finfluencers routinely frame promotional content as personal experience or financial education, creating grey areas that complicate formal action. The FCA has signalled it is targeting the anonymity social media platforms can provide to promoters, with the aim of preventing illegal recommendations from passing as organic content.
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