It depends on exactly what you do. A personalized recommendation on specific instruments is a reserved activity; training and generic analysis are not. We help you stay on the right side of the line and, if you cross it, obtain the license or the setup that lets you carry on.
Not sure whether your activity needs a license?
Tell us what you do (content, mentoring, signals, an app) and we will tell you whether you are in reserved territory and which route fits you.
There are three ways to guide investors while complying with the law: stay generic, operate under someone else’s license or get your own. We support you on any of them.
If your business is making tailored investment recommendations, the long-term solution is a license. We handle the authorization of your financial advisory firm (EAF) by the CNMV, from fitting your business model to entry in the register.
You can act on behalf of an investment firm (ESI) that already holds a license, as an agent entered in the official registers. We negotiate the agency agreement, review the liability regime and get you properly registered.
To advise only in Spain, the EAFN (national financial advisory firm) requires less capital and structure than the EAF. We handle your authorization.
The whole path to the license: firm type, capital, application and timelines. The reading to do before you take the step.
The CNMV’s June 2026 guidelines set the playing field for financial content creators.
If you already have a request for information or open proceedings for unlicensed activity, we defend you from the very first filing.
The question comes from very different profiles, but the analysis is always the same: is there a recommendation, is it personalized and does it point to specific instruments?
“My community grew and now people message me privately asking what to invest in. While I talked about concepts I was free to do so; the moment I answer each person based on their own case, I am stepping into a reserved activity.”
“I left the bank and several clients still ask for my opinion on their portfolios. Even if I sign no contracts and earn no commission, recommending specific funds to them based on their profile is advice: either I become an EAFN or I stop.”
“I sold ‘financial education’ mentoring, but in the sessions we ended up choosing ETFs for each student. That nuance changes everything: training is unrestricted; personalized product selection is not.”
“Our algorithm showed each user the funds ‘best suited for you.’ To us it was a search engine; the regulatory analysis said otherwise: personalization plus a specific instrument is advice, with or without humans.”
Most people who cross the line did not think they were crossing it. These are the three most common forms of self-deception and why they do not work.
“A disclaimer is enough”: writing “this is not a recommendation” does not change the nature of what you do. If the message is presented as suitable for its recipient and points to specific instruments, it is advice, whatever the footer says.
“I don’t charge, so I don’t count”: indirect monetization (subscriptions, affiliate deals, mentoring, professional visibility) fits within providing the service on a professional basis. And the reserved activity does not disappear because you bill little or are paid in kind.
“I’m small, nobody is watching”: the CNMV actively monitors the perimeter—including public warnings about unauthorized firms—and complaints from followers or competitors come in on their own. Providing investment services without authorization is a very serious infringement.
| What you can do without a license | What requires a license | Gray zone: the test |
|---|---|---|
| Financial training: courses, workshops and educational content that explain concepts, asset classes or how a product works, without getting into anyone’s individual case. | Recommending to a student, in class or in a tutorial, which specific instrument to buy or sell based on their personal situation. | “Model portfolios” in courses: legal if they are illustrative and generic; reserved if they are tailored to each student’s profile. Test: would the example stay exactly the same with a different student in front of you? |
| Generic analysis and content: newsletters, videos or reports distributed to the general public, without addressing the situation of any particular recipient. | Replying privately “for you, with your profile, I would buy X”: a personalized recommendation on a specific instrument, the very core of the reserved activity. | Paid channels with “signals” or “trades of the week”: the more segmented the group and the more actionable the message, the closer to the reserved activity. Test: is it presented as suitable for the person receiving it? |
| Objective information: describing the features, costs or risks of a product to whoever asks, without giving any view on whether it suits that person. | Ongoing support for an investor, deciding purchases and sales with them according to their objectives: full-fledged advice, whether it is called mentoring or coaching. | One-on-one “personal finance” sessions: unrestricted while they work on habits and planning; reserved once they select instruments for the client. Test: does the session end with specific products named? |
In a diagnostic session we analyze your actual activity—content, messages, monetization, tools—and tell you in writing whether you fall within the reserved activity, how to get out of it and which route fits you: an editorial protocol, an agency agreement or your own EAFN or EAF.
A personalized recommendation on specific financial instruments: telling a particular person, taking into account their circumstances or presenting it as suitable for them, to buy, sell or hold an identified instrument.
It breaks down into three elements that must all be present: (1) a recommendation—not mere information; (2) personalized—addressed to a specific person because of their situation; and (3) on specific financial instruments. If any of the three is missing, there is no advice in the MiFID sense.
Yes. Financial training is not an investment service: you can teach how markets work, what an index fund is or how to analyze a stock, and charge for it.
The line is crossed inside the classroom, not in the syllabus: when a student sets out their case and you tell them which specific product suits them, you have moved from teaching to advising. The safe practice is to always work with generic, illustrative examples and refer personal queries to authorized firms.
No. The legal classification depends on what you do, not what you declare: if the content of your message is a personalized recommendation on specific instruments, the legal notice does not turn it into something else.
Disclaimers are useful for genuinely generic content, as an honest reminder that no one’s situation is being assessed. Used to wrap tailored recommendations, they not only fail to protect you: they document that you knew where the line was.
Providing investment services without authorization—and advice is one of them—is a very serious infringement under Law 6/2023. Depending on the case, the penalty regime provides for fines, public reprimand and disqualification, as well as a possible CNMV public warning naming you as an unauthorized entity.
On top of that come the civil consequences toward clients who lose money following your recommendations, and the damage to any future license project. If you have already received a request for information, see CNMV sanctions and call us before you reply.
As a general rule, yes, as long as the content is generic and distributed to many recipients, without being tailored to each subscriber’s situation. Charging does not turn analysis into advice; personalizing it does.
Bear in mind too that recommendations on securities distributed to the public may constitute investment recommendations under Art. 20 of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), with duties of objectivity and disclosure of conflicts of interest. The CNMV’s June 2026 guidelines on finfluencers draw precisely these distinctions.
It is the middle route: you act on behalf of an investment firm (ESI) or credit institution that already holds a license, under its umbrella, its supervision and its responsibility, after registration in the official registers of agents.
It lets you work with clients from day one without building your own regulated structure, in exchange for exclusivity and operating with the firm’s product range and rules. We explain how the agreement and registration work in tied agent.
To advise only in Spain, the EAFN: capital of €50,000, which can be replaced by professional liability insurance or a combination of both. To advise with an EU passport, the EAF, with initial capital of €75,000.
In both cases the authorization is processed by the CNMV, with a general decision period of up to 6 months from when the application is complete. The whole path—firm type, application, policies—is covered in how to set up an EAF and in EAFN authorization.
Yes, on two levels. First, the reserved activity: if you move from generic content to answering individual cases with specific products—in comments, livestreams or private messages—you are giving advice without a license. Second, the market: your posts may be marketing communications or investment recommendations subject to MAR, with their own transparency rules.
In June 2026 the CNMV published specific guidelines on and for finfluencers, which distinguish advertising, investment recommendations and advice. If you make a living from a financial audience, it is worth reading them with a lawyer at your side.
The goal is not to scare you: it is for you to know exactly what you do, which part needs cover and how to get it without dismantling your business.
We audit what you really do: published content, private messages, sessions, monetization and tools. We apply the triple test to each piece: a recommendation? personalized? a specific instrument?
With the map in front of you, you decide: fall back to generic content with a solid editorial protocol, operate as an agent of an authorized firm, or apply for your own license (a national EAFN or an EAF with a passport).
We implement the chosen route: we stop the reserved activity, sign and register the agency or file the application with the CNMV, and document the boundary so it remains defensible over time.
If you opt for your own license, continue with how to set up an EAF; if you prefer the agency channel, start with tied agent.
The 10 steps to set up your Financial Advisory Firm (EAF) before the CNMV, with the evidence you must be able to show at each one. Keep it at hand throughout the project.
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Nine terms that separate unrestricted financial education from the reserved service. Anyone who makes a living guiding investors should master all of them.
A personalized recommendation on specific financial instruments. An investment service reserved to authorized firms.
One addressed to a particular person taking into account their circumstances, or presented as suitable for them. Without this feature there is no advice.
The recommendation must concern identified financial instruments. Suggesting “more equities” is generic; suggesting an identified fund is not.
Investment services may only be provided with authorization. Providing them without it is a very serious infringement, with a possible CNMV public warning.
Courses and educational content on concepts, markets and products in the abstract. An unrestricted activity as long as it does not get down to an individual student’s case.
Describing a product’s features, costs or risks without assessing whether it suits the person asking. Informing is unrestricted; prescribing is not.
Recommendations on securities distributed to the public (Art. 20 MAR) require objectivity and disclosure of conflicts, even if they are not advice.
A person acting on behalf of an authorized firm and entered in the official registers. The firm is liable for the agent’s conduct and supervises it.
A national advisory firm type created by Law 6/2023: €50,000 capital or professional liability insurance. No EU passport.
The syllabus is unrestricted; tutoring that gets down to the student’s case with specific products is not.
Illustrative examples valid for any student, a “no personal queries” policy and referral to authorized firms.
Analysis distributed to everyone is unrestricted; a private reply tailored to the subscriber is not. And public content can trigger MAR.
Identical content for the whole audience, the Art. 20 MAR objectivity and conflict duties covered, and trained moderators.
Planning, habits and method are unrestricted; selecting instruments for the client based on their profile is advice.
A documented session script that excludes product selection, and a referral at the end when the client asks for it.
The more segmented the group and the more actionable and “for you” the message, the closer it gets to a personalized recommendation.
Generic messages not tailored to each member, no de facto portfolio management, and periodic legal review of the format.
A neutral search engine is information; a ranking “suitable for you” based on the user’s profile is automated advice.
A documented regulatory analysis of the algorithm and, if it personalizes on specific instruments, your own license or an agreement with an investment firm (ESI).
If you recognize yourself in any of them, it is not a theoretical question: it is time to stop that practice and choose a route with legal advice.
The question “do I need a license?” comes back with every new format: algorithms, social media, family wealth, advertising. These pages apply the same personalized recommendation test to the scenarios that generate the most questions for us.
When the one making the recommendation is an algorithm: why automation does not remove the reserved activity and which license your app needs.
Recommending securities in public has its own regime: objectivity, conflicts and the red lines of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR).
Managing your own or your family’s wealth does not require a license; opening up to third parties changes everything. Where the cut-off lies.
Promoting investment products has its own rules (Circular 2/2020) even if you do not advise: review them before the campaign.
What did your self-assessment conclude? If you need a license, continue with setting up an EAF or EAFN authorization; if you prefer the umbrella of another firm, with tied agent; and if you make a living from content, with finfluencers and the CNMV.
Tell us how you earn money guiding investors and we will tell you clearly whether you need a license, which alternative fits you and how to regularize your position.
“Can I give investment advice without being an EAF?” is probably the question we receive most often from professionals, content creators and digital founders. A serious answer requires precision: investment advice—a personalized recommendation on specific financial instruments—is an investment service subject to a reserved activity regime under Law 6/2023, and providing it without CNMV authorization is a very serious infringement. But around that reserved core there is a broad and perfectly legal space: training, generic analysis and objective information. Everything hinges on telling them apart.
There is advice when three elements are present: a recommendation (not mere information), that is personalized (addressed to a particular person based on their circumstances, or presented as suitable for them), on specific financial instruments (not asset classes in the abstract). This leaves out financial training with generic examples, analysis and content distributed to the general public, and objective information on product features without any judgment on suitability. Anyone who does give advice is subject to MiFID II, starting with the suitability test under Art. 25 before each recommendation.
Law 6/2023 reserves investment services to authorized firms. Providing advice without a license is a very serious infringement, with a penalty regime that provides, depending on the case, for fines, public reprimand and disqualification, in addition to CNMV public warnings about unauthorized entities—the dreaded “chiringuito” (boiler room) named and shamed. On top of the administrative route comes civil exposure toward those who followed your recommendations and lost money, and a reputational burden that complicates any future authorization. The details of the disciplinary regime are in CNMV sanctions.
Not needing a license does not mean operating without rules. Recommendations on securities distributed to the public may be investment recommendations under Art. 20 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR), with duties of objectivity and disclosure of conflicts of interest; and the promotion of investment products is subject to advertising rules, with CNMV Circular 2/2020 as the reference. In June 2026 the CNMV published specific guidelines on and for finfluencers, drawing the line between marketing communications, investment recommendations and advice: essential reading for anyone who monetizes a financial audience.
Anyone who wants to make a living guiding investors has three clean routes. First, generic content: non-personalized training and analysis, with an editorial protocol that keeps the boundary in place. Second, becoming an agent of an authorized firm: operating on behalf of an investment firm (ESI) under its license and supervision, entered in the official registers (we explain it in tied agent). Third, your own license: an EAFN to advise only in Spain (€50,000 capital or professional liability insurance) or an EAF with an EU passport (€75,000), both authorized by the CNMV within a general period of up to 6 months once the application is complete. The full path is in how to set up an EAF.
Key legislation, linked to the official text:
Legislation and links reviewed in .