The Socially Savvy Advisor + Website: Compliant Social Media for the Financial Industry

Chapter 35How Can We Spot-Check Employee Behavior on Social Media?

As social media changes the way people interact, it's also recasting the relationship between financial advisors and their employers. Some professionals may feel that the life they live on social media is a private matter that doesn't concern their firm, but in fact the things that they say on the Web can draw regulators' notice.

So it's important for chief compliance officers to know what accounts their employees have on social media and what they're saying on those accounts. Even on Yelp, the online business review site that covers everything from restaurants to cardiologists, if an advisor in any way is representing his firm, the things he says can be deemed to be official and must attend to rules set by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Those comments also must be archived according to regulators' rules.

Business Use of Personal Websites

The personal can easily turn into the professional where social media is concerned. Take LinkedIn. This network for professionals is a place where communications almost always matter for regulatory purposes, since the individual is representing his or her firm through their profile on the site. After all, current employment is the first thing people look at on the site.

Figure 35.1 Spot-Checks Move from ...