The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has announced it is collaborating with securities regulators worldwide to tackle illegal activities conducted by financial influencers. As part of this initiative, multiple regulatory bodies are implementing a series of measures, including enforcement and supervisory actions, alongside investor education and awareness campaigns. Members of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recognize that illegal activities by financial influencers are a global issue and are actively participating in the "Worldwide Action Week Against Illegal Financial Influencers," held during the week of April 20, 2026. Compared to the initiative's launch in 2025, the number of participating members has nearly doubled. This year, a total of 17 IOSCO members, including the SFC, are involved in this regulatory effort.
Ms. Julia Leung, the Chief Executive Officer of the SFC and Chair of the IOSCO Asia-Pacific Regional Committee, stated, "As financial promotion becomes increasingly common on social media, regulators around the world must cooperate to protect the investing public from illegal financial promotions and foster a fair online environment. The SFC is committed to supporting this global initiative as part of our actions against online scams, which often cross jurisdictional boundaries."
Over the past year, the SFC has made progress in combating illegal activities by financial influencers through robust enforcement actions and cooperation with social media platforms to remove suspicious posts and accounts involved in unlicensed activities. Key outcomes of the SFC's actions include: successfully securing a prison sentence for a financial influencer who was previously convicted of a criminal offense for providing paid investment advice without a license in social media chat groups; issuing a compliance letter to a financial influencer for promoting an overseas virtual asset trading platform to the Hong Kong public without a license; and, since July 2025, submitting 12 reports to major social media platforms concerning 33 suspicious posts or accounts, with over 90% of the reported content being promptly removed by the respective platforms.
The SFC has also enhanced its efforts by leveraging social media platforms to combat illegal activities through joint local actions under the "Consumer Protection Against Scams Charter 3.0" with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and other local bodies, as well as through regional cooperation driven by the SFC's leadership role in the IOSCO Asia-Pacific Regional Committee's Anti-Scam Task Force.
Furthermore, the SFC is actively strengthening its ability to detect social media-based financial scams through its internal artificial intelligence social media surveillance system (SENSOR), which was launched in the third quarter of 2025. This system utilizes AI and natural language processing technologies to monitor various warning signs on social media platforms, including the illegal promotion of financial products by influencers.
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