Australia has no special finfluencer licence; the ordinary financial services laws apply to creators, and ASIC's Information Sheet 269 explains how. If you carry on a business of giving financial product advice, or of arranging for followers to deal in financial products, for example through a unique link to a trading platform that pays you per sign-up, you need an Australian financial services licence or must act as an authorised representative of a licensee. Whatever your licence status, nothing you post about financial products may be misleading or deceptive. Factual explanations and budgeting tips are generally outside the advice rules; recommendations, especially paid ones, are where the risk concentrates.
The three questions ASIC asks of a post
ASIC's INFO 269, Discussing financial products and services online, issued in March 2022, is written for influencers and for the licensees who use them. It says ASIC monitors select online financial discussion by influencers, and that carrying on a financial services business without a licence is an offence under the Corporations Act unless you are an authorised representative or an exemption applies. Every post can be tested against three questions drawn from it.
- Is it financial product advice? The information sheet defines advice as a recommendation or opinion intended, or reasonably regarded as intended, to influence a decision about financial products. Facts about a product's features are not advice, but facts arranged to convey that people should or should not invest can be, and ASIC says being paid for your comments makes it more likely you are giving advice because it signals an intention to influence.
- Are you dealing by arranging? Arranging for someone to buy or sell a financial product is a financial service, and whether you are doing it depends on how involved you are in making the transaction happen.
- Is it misleading or deceptive? This rule applies whether or not you hold a licence. Statements must be true, accurate and capable of being substantiated, predictions about returns or risk need reasonable grounds, and the test is the overall impression on the audience your post actually reaches, not the audience you hoped for.
Content risk table
The rows below paraphrase the patterns in INFO 269's case studies and apply them to common creator formats. They describe likely readings, not legal conclusions; the overall impression of each post decides how it is treated.
| Content type | What ASIC is concerned with | Likely reading | Lower-risk version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explaining how shares and ETFs differ, without favouring either | Whether factual description slides into an implied recommendation | Unlikely to be advice | Keep comparisons neutral and give risks the same prominence as features |
| Budgeting and saving habits that involve no financial product | None of the advice rules, as no financial product is involved | Unlikely to be advice | Stay with habits rather than naming accounts or funds to switch into |
| Your personal picks of specific stocks for followers to buy and hold | An opinion intended to influence a decision about specific products | Likely to be financial product advice | Explain how you research rather than what followers should buy, or get licensed or authorised first |
| A sponsored video for a broker, app or fund | Payment makes an intention to influence more likely, and the sponsor may be liable too | Higher risk of unlicensed advice unless you act under a licensee | Only take the deal as an authorised representative, under a documented agreement |
| A unique referral link to a trading platform that pays you per click-through and gives followers a perk | Active involvement in making the transaction happen | Likely to be dealing by arranging | Do not run paid unique links for financial products without a licence or authorisation |
| Naming licensed platforms that exist, with no link deal and no further involvement | Whether you take part in any later transaction | Unlikely to be dealing by arranging | Keep it informational and avoid ranking one platform as the one to use |
| Claims of assured returns, or that a trading strategy carries no risk | Statements that cannot be substantiated and hide product risks | Likely to be misleading, and the return claim may also be advice | Never promise returns; state risks as clearly as benefits |
| Lifestyle footage of cars and holidays framed as the result of a trading method | A misleading impression of the prospects of success | Can be misleading even without explicit claims | Separate lifestyle content from anything about financial products |
The last row comes from ASIC's consumer site, whose Moneysmart page on finfluencers warns that content using lavish lifestyles to promote financial products or trading strategies has contained misleading representations about the prospects of success. The same page notes that some finfluencers move followers into private trading channels, such as on Telegram, where advice happens away from public view; the law applies there too.
Paid deals and the authorised representative route
For creators who want to work with financial brands, the lawful path for advice-style content is to become an authorised representative of a licensee rather than to post on your own account and hope. INFO 269 tells influencers to do due diligence on whoever pays them, including in non-monetary benefits, to use a documented agreement, and notes that they may have to disclose remuneration or benefits to followers. It tells licensees that they may be liable for influencers' misconduct, need monitoring systems, and must consider whether a product is subject to the design and distribution obligations and promoted only to its target market.
ASIC has since stepped up its focus. In an April 2026 media release, it said it had issued warning notices to four finfluencers suspected of unlicensed advice or misleading conduct, including promoting claims of guaranteed returns, and had begun reviewing how licensees supervise finfluencers working as their authorised representatives. It said it expects documented arrangements for active supervision, kept on record, and that licensees remain responsible and liable for what their representatives say online. Before signing, check the licensee on ASIC's professional registers, and put the supervision process, approval steps and takedown rights into the contract; the influencer contract clause guide covers the general terms.
Crypto and other digital assets
Crypto content needs an extra first step: working out whether the asset is a financial product at all. ASIC's INFO 225 on digital assets, updated in October 2025, covers crypto-assets, tokens, stablecoins and tokenised assets, and works through hypothetical examples in which some tokens are likely to be financial products and others, such as a coin that gives holders no rights and is not connected to any enterprise's success, are unlikely to be. It also says Australian laws apply where a digital asset is promoted or sold in Australia, including from offshore.
If the token is a financial product, every row of the risk table applies as written. If it is not, the advice and arranging rules may not reach it, but your claims still have to be honest, and a sponsor's token is the kind of deal where a lawyer's view before you post is worth paying for.
A second jurisdiction: the UK's FCA guidance
Creators with UK followers face a stricter-looking rule. The FCA's FG24/1 guidance on financial promotions on social media, finalised in March 2024, explains that under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 a person must not, in the course of business, communicate an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity unless they are authorised, the content is approved by an appropriate authorised person, or an exemption applies. The FCA says unauthorised influencers who promote regulated products without that approval may be committing a criminal offence.
- The business test needs a commercial interest, but the FCA says it can capture communications even without a direct commercial arrangement.
- Any format can be a financial promotion, including memes, and private channels such as Discord and Telegram are covered.
- Whether a post falls within the rule does not depend on the size of your following.
- Anyone recommending an investment strategy must present it objectively and disclose conflicts of interest under the Market Abuse Regulation.
- Paid content must also be labelled as advertising upfront under the ASA's rules, set out in the UK ASA labelling guide.
Pre-post checklist for money content
- Name the financial product the post is about, or confirm that none is involved.
- Read the post as a follower would: does its overall impression tell them what to buy, sell or hold?
- Check whether you were paid or given anything, because that makes an intention to influence more likely.
- Remove any unique paid link to a financial platform unless you are licensed or authorised.
- Delete promises of returns and any suggestion that a product carries no risk; give risks equal prominence.
- Keep evidence for every factual claim and reasonable grounds for every prediction.
- For a sponsored post, confirm the licensee arrangement in writing, check the register, and add the advertising label your audience's country requires.
- If UK followers can see it, ask the sponsor which FCA-authorised person has approved the promotion.
Labelling itself is covered in the Australian influencer disclosure guide, and a giveaway with a share, token or trading credit as the prize also raises the state lottery rules in the trade promotion permit guide. Sponsorships for alcohol, gambling and vaping products sit under separate rules not covered here. For the wider Australian setup, see how to become an influencer in Australia.
Limitations of this guide
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. ASIC says INFO 269 is a summary that does not cover the whole of the law, avoids legal language and may include generalisations, and that some provisions have exceptions or qualifications; the risk table above simplifies further. Whether a particular post is advice, arranging or misleading depends on its full context.
Regulators update their guidance and enforcement priorities, and other countries your followers live in have their own rules. If you plan to build a channel around investing, or a financial brand approaches you, speak to a lawyer who works in financial services regulation before you publish.