Twitter is no place for brokerages to promote products

20 February 2012 | By Samuel Dale

Mortgage brokers should not use Twitter to promote mortage products, a regulatory expert says.

The Financial Services Authority applies its financial promotions rules to Twitter and requires firms to display clear risk warnings and information that is not misleading.

Barrister Adam Samuel believes it is difficult to meet the requirements of these rules in the 140 characters allowed on Twitter.

He says: “Instant social media and complicated products are not a good fit for each other. Mortgage brokers shouldn’t use Twitter at all.

“If your firm is sponsoring the local fête, cricket or school sports day then tweet about that, but anything related to products or service is not OK.”

See this week’s cover feature for more.

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Readers' comments (6)

Dan McGeehan | 20 Feb 2012 3:04 pm
Twitter is not going to away and the FSA need to forumalte a policy that deals with the character limit in it.Reading this article and the cover feature it highlights that you cannot mention rates without the associated disclaimers. However if you where to tweet a product withdrawal which saves a customer money surely that is TCF.
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Anonymous | 20 Feb 2012 3:33 pm
I completely agree with Dan, Twitter is here to stay, it's a great tool for brokers to use, it's a free and easily accessable.

If this is an issue (which I'm not convinced it is) then a SOLUTION needs to be found rather than just a set of rules which make it impossible to use freely
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AA | 20 Feb 2012 3:33 pm
Companies shouldn't be promoting products anyway!!! Its boring content.
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Terry B | 20 Feb 2012 3:38 pm
I wondered when this would raise its head...the FSA financial promotions rules are quite clear..if the communication is designed to attract customers to engage in a regulated activity then the rules apply! It's a bit like the offside rule ..you may not like it ..but if you want to play football you have to work with it
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Ian Rogers | 20 Feb 2012 3:51 pm
Business is Business. I tweet about the industry but not rates or products and it does get you noticed, most other business sectors use Twitter, so why are we once again being singled out for SPECIAL Treatment, i suggest the barrister keeps his Beak out.
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Anonymous | 20 Feb 2012 4:08 pm
Terry B is right that the rules do apply but misses the point that the rules need reviewing to take into account the current marketplace. Football does not have goal line technology but many of them have opinions about the issue.....
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