Financial experts have welcomed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) warning to social media financial influencers for providing financial advice and services online without a license. ASIC stated that financial advice and services must be provided by licensees and that social media influencers, often called finfluencers, who provide financial product advice and financial services can face significant penalties under the Corporations Act. Under this act, offending individuals could be penalised for up to five years imprisonment, with corporations facing up to millions in financial penalties. Additionally, finfluencers promoting or presenting financial products in a misleading representation of the actual product or making predictions without reasonable grounds and verification can all be considered breaches of the act, regardless of their license status. Other unlicensed influencers that receive benefits or payments for their comments to a financial product may also be at risk of offences. “The information sheet by ASIC is a …