Creator
The educator with an audience
“My stock market channel has more than a hundred thousand followers and brands want to work with me. I need to know what I can say, what I must label and what is off-limits without a license.”
Finfluencers: CNMV Rules and Legal Limits in Spain, Where Content Ends and Regulation Begins
In June 2026 the CNMV published guidance on and for finfluencers. Three boundaries decide which rules apply to you: advertising, investment recommendations and investment advice. Crossing them without realizing it has consequences for the creator and for the firm that hires them.
Do you create financial content, or hire people who do?
Tell us what you publish or what campaign you are preparing, and we will tell you which rules apply and how to comply without limiting your reach.
- 50+ entities advised
- Reply within 24 h
- No commitment
- Investment recommendation
- MAR Art. 20
- Investment advertising
- Circular 2/2020
- Content checklist
- 10 steps
Services
Legal coverage for creators and firms
From a sponsored post to a multichannel campaign: the services we use to make financial content hold up before the CNMV.
Advertising
Advertising of financial products
We review campaigns and sponsored content under CNMV Circular 2/2020: identification as advertising, a balanced message and the warnings required for each format and channel.
Learn more →
Circular 2/2020CampaignsWarningsCNMV
MAR
Market abuse and recommendations
Giving your audience opinions on specific securities can be an investment recommendation under MAR Art. 20: objectivity, identification of who issues it and disclosed conflicts. We tell you when it applies and how to comply.
Learn more →
MAR Art. 20ObjectivityConflictsRegulation 596/2014
Framework
Market Abuse Regulation
MAR is not just for brokers: it reaches anyone who disseminates recommendations or opinions capable of moving the public.
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MARDissemination
Boundary
Advising without a license?
A personalized recommendation is a reserved activity. Where the line is that a creator must never cross.
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Reserved activityVery serious
Supervision
CNMV 2026 activity plan
The finfluencer guidance did not come out of nowhere: it fits the supervisor’s priorities for this year.
Learn more →
CNMVPriorities
Defense
CNMV proceedings and sanctions
If the supervisor has already knocked on your door—a request for information, a preliminary inquiry, proceedings—prepare your response methodically.
Learn more →
ProceedingsDefense
Profiles
Who consults us about financial content
Four different seats at the same table: creator, firm, platform and issuing project. Each one with its own regulatory risk.
Investment firm
The sponsoring firm
“We want to attract young clients through content creators, but the campaign goes out under our brand: if the finfluencer goes too far, the proceedings are ours too.”
Platform
The affiliate program
“We pay dozens of creators per account opened. Who is liable for what they say to get the sign-ups? We need campaign control, not blind faith.”
Crypto
The project promoting its token
“We are going to promote our crypto-asset through influencers. We have heard of Circular 1/2022 and MiCA, but nobody has explained in practical terms what each piece requires.”
Before you publish
The three mistakes that trigger the most proceedings
Financial content is not lawless territory: advertising rules, MAR and reserved activities apply even if the format is a one-minute video.
Unlabeled advertising: being paid by a firm—money, sign-up commissions or gifts—and not identifying the content as advertising breaches advertising rules and also drags in the paying firm.
Commenting on securities outside the MAR regime: suggesting that your audience buy or sell a specific security triggers Article 20 of the Market Abuse Regulation: objective presentation, identification of who issues the recommendation and disclosure of conflicts and interests.
Crossing into personalized recommendations: replying privately “with your profile, buy X” is no longer education: it is investment advice, a reserved activity that is a very serious infringement when provided without a license.
| Type of content | Applicable regime | Key obligations |
|---|---|---|
| Content paid for or incentivized by a firm | Marketing communication (advertising rules; Circular 2/2020 for investment products) | Identify it as advertising, with a clear and balanced message and its warnings; the firm must control the campaign. |
| Opinion or analysis on specific securities aimed at the public | Investment recommendation under Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR) | Objective presentation, identification of who issues the recommendation and disclosure of conflicts and interests. |
| Personalized suggestion to invest in a specific instrument | Investment advice: an activity reserved to authorized firms | It cannot be provided without a license: doing so is a very serious infringement; the creator needs authorization or must refrain. |
Questions about your content or your campaign?
We analyze, format by format, which regime applies—advertising, MAR or reserved activity—draft the notices and contracts you need and set up the campaign controls the CNMV expects from firms. Before you publish, not after the request for information.
Frequently asked questions
Finfluencers and the CNMV: common questions
What exactly has the CNMV published on finfluencers?
In June 2026 the CNMV published guidance on and for finfluencers: criteria aimed both at financial content creators and at the firms that work with them.
Its core contribution is to draw the lines between three regimes that already existed but were poorly applied: marketing communications, investment recommendations under Article 20 of the Market Abuse Regulation, and investment advice as a reserved activity. What is new is not the rule: it is that the supervisor explains how it will apply it to social media content.
When is my content advertising?
As a general rule, when you disseminate content in exchange for remuneration or an incentive from a firm—money, commissions per account opened, products, trips—to promote its products or services. That content must be identified as advertising and comply with the applicable advertising rules.
For investment products and services, the reference is CNMV Circular 2/2020; for crypto-assets, Circular 1/2022. We cover this in advertising of financial products.
What is an investment recommendation under MAR Article 20?
It is information aimed at the public that recommends or suggests an investment strategy concerning specific financial instruments or issuers: a video with a buy thesis on a stock, a thread with a price target, a newsletter with actionable “ideas.”
Whoever issues it takes on obligations under Regulation (EU) 596/2014: presenting the information objectively, identifying themselves as the issuer of the recommendation and disclosing their conflicts and interests—for example, whether they hold a position in the security they are talking about. You do not need to be a professional analyst to fall within it.
When do I cross the line into investment advice?
When the recommendation stops being general and becomes personalized: presenting a specific instrument as suitable for a specific person based on their circumstances. The typical example: answering private messages such as “I have €20,000 and this profile, what should I buy?”
That is an investment service reserved to authorized firms; providing it without a license is a very serious infringement. We analyze the boundary in detail in Can you give investment advice without a license?
What can happen to me as a creator if I fail to comply?
It depends on which boundary you cross. On the administrative side, the CNMV can request information from you, order you to stop or correct content and, where appropriate, open sanction proceedings: the LMVSI classifies infringements as minor, serious and very serious, with fines, public reprimand and even disqualification in the most severe cases. Providing advice without a license sits at the top of that scale.
Add to that the civil front—followers who invested relying on non-compliant content—and the reputational one, which in an audience business can be the most expensive of all.
What liability does a firm that hires finfluencers take on?
Legally, a campaign with creators is the firm’s own advertising: hiring someone to disseminate it does not outsource responsibility for the message. The firm must select the creators, approve the pieces before they are published, agree the regulatory obligations by contract and monitor the campaign while it is live.
If the creator improvises promises of returns or removes the advertising label, the problem is shared. That is why campaign control is part of our advertising of financial products service.
Does the same apply to crypto-asset content?
The logic of the three boundaries still holds, with two particularities. Crypto-asset advertising has its own rule, CNMV Circular 1/2022. And advice on crypto-assets is a service that MiCA reserves to authorized CASPs—investment firms (ESIs) can provide it by notification, within the scope equivalent to their license.
In other words: promoting a token requires complying with crypto advertising rules, and “telling each follower which crypto-asset to buy” requires a license. More detail in advice on crypto-assets.
Can I monetize my community with courses, memberships or signals?
Generic financial education and educational analysis are unrestricted activities: you can charge for them without a license. The risk lies in how the product is designed. A paid community that sends “signals” with buy instructions on specific instruments comes close to an investment recommendation under MAR Article 20 and, if the instructions are tailored to each subscriber, encroaches on reserved advice.
The difference between a legal business and an infringement usually lies in how the terms of service are drafted and how individual queries are answered. If your project is serious, consider going straight to setting up an EAF.
Operational guide
How to publish (and sponsor) without triggering proceedings
A three-layer method: classify the content, comply with the regime that applies to it and keep a record of both.
Classify before you publish
Every format—post, video, livestream, newsletter, paid community—goes into one of three boxes: advertising, investment recommendation or educational opinion. The box decides the obligations; improvisation decides the proceedings.
Control the campaign end to end
A brief validated by compliance, a contract with regulatory obligations, prior approval of pieces and live monitoring: the firm is liable for what its campaign says through third parties.
Document so you can defend yourself
Dated screenshots, approved versions, notices used and a log of corrections. When the CNMV sends a request for information, the difference between an incident and a sanction usually lies in the records.
10-step checklist for financial content
- Inventory of formats: list everything you publish—videos, threads, newsletter, paid community—and who pays or incentivizes you for each piece.
- Classification by regime: assign each format to its box: advertising, investment recommendation under MAR Article 20 or educational opinion.
- Advertising labels: identify all paid or incentivized content as advertising, with visible disclosures rather than burying them in the description.
- Contract with the firm: agree in writing on the regulatory obligations, prior approval of pieces, use of the brand and each party’s liability.
- Disclosure of conflicts: tell your audience about your own positions, remuneration and relationships with issuers when you give opinions on specific securities.
- Objective analysis: if you issue recommendations, separate facts from opinions, cite sources and identify yourself as the issuer of the recommendation.
- Anti-personalization barrier: do not answer individual requests about what to do with anyone’s money: a personalized recommendation is a reserved activity.
- Crypto regime: apply Circular 1/2022 to crypto-asset advertising and remember that MiCA reserves advice on crypto-assets to authorized firms.
- Live monitoring: for firms, review published pieces, livestreams and pinned comments throughout the campaign, not only at launch.
- Evidence file: keep dated screenshots, approved versions and the corrections made: they will be your defense against a request for information.
Preparing a campaign or received a request for information? Start with advertising of financial products or check the limits in advising without a license.
Working glossary
The finfluencer glossary
The nine concepts that separate lawful financial education from sanction proceedings. If you make a living from financial content—or pay for it—this is your survival vocabulary.
FinfluencerPlayer
Financial content creator
Someone who disseminates investment content to an audience on social media, video or newsletters. The CNMV devoted specific guidance to them in June 2026.
Which rules apply depends on what they publish and how they are paid.
Marketing communicationBoundary 1
Paid content
A piece disseminated in exchange for remuneration or an incentive from a firm to promote products or services. It must be identified as advertising.
Circular 2/2020 for investment products.
Investment recommendationBoundary 2
Opinions on securities, with rules
Information aimed at the public that recommends or suggests a strategy concerning specific instruments or issuers. It is governed by MAR Article 20.
Objectivity, identification and disclosed conflicts.
AdviceBoundary 3
The personalized recommendation
Recommending a specific instrument to a person based on their circumstances. It is an investment service reserved to authorized firms.
Without a license: very serious infringement.
MAR Art. 20Rule
Regulation (EU) 596/2014
The provision of the Market Abuse Regulation that governs the production and dissemination of investment recommendations aimed at the public.
It also reaches content creators.
Reserved activityLimit
Licensed services only
Investment services, including advice, can only be provided by authorized firms. A mass audience is no exemption: personalization is what crosses the line.
Basis: Law 6/2023.
Conflict of interestDisclosure
Your own positions and interests
Holding the security you talk about, being paid by the issuer or by the platform you promote: interests that must be disclosed to the audience.
Hiding them aggravates any proceedings.
Campaign controlFirms
The payer’s obligation
The firm that hires creators is liable for the campaign: prior approval, a contract with regulatory clauses and monitoring of the pieces.
Outsourcing the message does not outsource the liability.
Circular 1/2022Crypto
Crypto-asset advertising
The CNMV rule that governs crypto-asset advertising aimed at investors in Spain. It also applies to creator content paid for by crypto projects.
It coexists with MiCA on the services side.
Content playbook
Five real scenarios and how to comply in each
Post sponsored by a broker
A visible advertising label, a balanced message and the warnings specific to the advertising of investment products.
Labeled piece, brief approved by the firm and a collaboration agreement with regulatory clauses.
Video analyzing a listed stock
Investment recommendation regime: objective presentation, identification of the issuer of the recommendation and disclosed conflicts and interests.
Script with sources, a notice of own positions and a dated record of the published piece.
Paid community with signals
Design review: if the instructions are personalized for each subscriber, the service encroaches on reserved advice.
Reviewed terms of service, generic content templates and a protocol for answering individual queries.
An investment firm’s campaign with several creators
Control by the firm: prior approval of pieces, regulatory guidelines for creators and monitoring throughout the campaign.
Campaign procedure, records of piece reviews and a log of incidents and corrections.
Promoting a crypto-asset
Crypto advertising in line with Circular 1/2022 and respect for the reservation of crypto-asset services under MiCA.
Piece with warnings, prior legal validation and a documented line between the content and advice.
Signs that your content (or your campaign) is in the red zone
These five practices come up again and again in proceedings. Fix them before the supervisor detects them.
- You are paid by a platform for every account opened and do not tell your audience in the piece itself.
- You publish price targets or buy messages on specific securities without disclosing whether you hold a position in them.
- You answer private messages telling each follower which product to buy based on their situation.
- Your firm launches campaigns with creators without prior compliance approval or a contract with regulatory obligations.
- You promote crypto-assets with promises of returns and no warning at all about the risks.
Related decisions
From content to a license (or to proceedings)
If your community grows, sooner or later you will have to choose: stay in education, go professional with a license or expose yourself to proceedings. These pages give you the full picture so you can make an informed decision.
License
Setting up an EAF
If you want to charge for recommending to each client what suits them, the legal route is the advisory license.
See requirements →
CNMVAdvice
MiFID II
MiFID advice
What turns an opinion into a personalized recommendation and what obligations a licensed provider takes on.
Understand the boundary →
SuitabilityObligations
Supervision
CNMV inspections
How the supervisor acts when it detects non-compliant content: requests for information, preliminary inquiries and enforcement actions.
Know what to expect →
RequestsEnforcement
Clients
Investor protection
The foundation of the whole regime: why financial content is watched more closely than content in any other sector.
See the framework →
Retail investorsTransparency
If you are a creator and your project is serious, consider setting up your own EAF. If you are a firm, strengthen your advertising controls and your market abuse prevention framework before your next campaign. And if the content is about crypto, add advice on crypto-assets to the analysis.
Contact
Book a call
Tell us about your case—channel, formats, brands you work with—and we will explain which regulatory boundary affects your content and how to protect yourself.
Finfluencers in Spain: the CNMV guidance and the three boundaries of financial content
In June 2026 the CNMV published guidance on and for finfluencers: criteria aimed both at financial content creators and at the firms that hire them. The underlying message is that investment content is not an unregulated space: three different regimes coexist in it—marketing communications, investment recommendations under Article 20 of the Market Abuse Regulation, and investment advice—and putting content in the wrong box can lead to sanction proceedings against both the creator and the firm funding the campaign.
First boundary: marketing communications
When a creator disseminates content in exchange for remuneration or an incentive from a firm, that content is advertising and must be identified as such, as well as comply with the advertising rules that apply to the product: CNMV Circular 2/2020 for investment products and services and Circular 1/2022 for crypto-assets. The label is not a cosmetic formality: without it the whole piece is flawed and both parties to the collaboration are exposed. We review formats, disclosures and warnings in our advertising of financial products service.
Second boundary: investment recommendations under MAR Article 20
Giving the public opinions on specific securities or issuers—buy theses, price targets, actionable “ideas”—can amount to an investment recommendation under Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014. Whoever issues it must present the information objectively, identify themselves as the issuer of the recommendation and disclose their conflicts and interests, starting with their positions in the instruments they talk about. This regime does not require being paid by anyone: it is triggered by the nature of the content. Breaching it takes you into market abuse territory, where nobody wants to put a foot wrong.
Third boundary: investment advice
The ultimate red line is personalization: recommending a specific instrument to a specific person based on their circumstances is investment advice, an activity reserved to authorized firms. Providing it without a license is a very serious infringement under Law 6/2023, with fines, public reprimand and the other consequences of the sanctioning regime. Private messages, “signals” tailored to the subscriber and answers to individual queries are where most creators slip up. We explain the limits in advising without a license and the route to going professional in setting up an EAF.
Firms: liability and campaign control
The guidance also looks at firms: a campaign with finfluencers is the firm’s own advertising, and hiring someone to disseminate it does not shift liability to the creator. The firm must select creators carefully, approve pieces before publication, agree the regulatory obligations by contract and monitor the content while the campaign is live—including livestreams and pinned comments. This focus fits the supervisor’s priorities set out in the CNMV 2026 activity plan. If something goes wrong, it pays to know how CNMV inspections and sanction proceedings work before answering the first request for information.
Advertising and markets
Boundaries of advice
If the supervisor calls
Official sources
Key legislation, linked to the official text:
- Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of April 16, 2014 on market abuseEUR-Lex · Official Journal of the EU
- Law 6/2023 of March 17 on Securities Markets and Investment ServicesBOE · consolidated text
Legislation and links reviewed in .