The Securities and Exchange Commission released Friday guidance clarifying which social media posts mutual funds and other investment companies must file with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Mutual funds and investment companies are required to file certain advertisements for review by the regulator. But out of an “abundance of caution, many mutual funds and other investment companies may file materials on their social media sites with FINRA unnecessarily,” the SEC investment management staff says.
The guidance states that “certain interactive content need not be filed” with FINRA.
Whether a post or set of posts should be filed, IM staff says, depends on its “content, context and presentation” and requires consideration of such factors as whether the post is “merely a response to a request or inquiry from the social media user or is forwarding previously filed content.”
Examples of when a communication doesn’t need to be filed include: