The UK Financial Conduct Authority has ramped up its name and shame approach to scofflaws who allegedly commit financial services crimes. While in the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission, has long publicly posted their enforcement actions this is not as common in the UK.
Today, the FCA has revealed court dates for a group of “Finfluencers” again – a new phenomena in the digital world as today everything is on X (aka Twitter), YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and more. This is another area where the SEC has been active prominently declaring legal actions and settlements against prominent celebrities.
Unlike the US, it appears prosecution will take place and while the court dates have been set – they are years away.
This past May, the charges were revealed for nine Finfluencers who was charged with an unauthorized foreign exchange trading ploy that was apparently promoted on social media. Today, it has been announced that four of these individuals have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The FCA explains that “due to court availability, trial dates were fixed for 1 February 2027 and 15 March 2027 at Southwark Crown Court.” The agency explained that these were the earliest dates available.
The wheels of justice move slowly.