MAS sees spike in 'finfluencer' complaints: Should influencers learn to self-regulate?

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has received eight complaints against financial influencers ("finfluencers") in 2025, an increase from the average of five complaints per year in the last five years. 

In parliament on Tuesday (8 April), Alvin Tan, minister of state for trade and industry said the majority of this year's complaints were attributable to comments made recently by two "finfluencers" who shared their reasons for liquidating their investments from a financial platform. Tan stated that MAS has responded to all the complaints and there are no outstanding issues. 

"By and large, 'finfluencers' help create awareness of products and services offered by financial institutions and some play a role in promoting financial literacy. However, they must do so responsibly and must not veer into providing financial advice, which is a regulated activity," Tan added. 

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Tan, a board member of the MAS, noted that the authority considers an individual as providing financial advice if he is remunerated for making a recommendation or expressing an opinion on the buying, selling or holding of investment products. 

"Even if he is not remunerated, MAS considers a 'finfluencer' to have provided financial advice if he makes such recommendations or expressions regularly," he added. 

Moreover, Tan stated that a "finfluencer" providing advice must be regulated under the Financial Advisers Act and must first be appointed as a representative by a licensed financial advisory firm. He also said that "finfluencers" who make false or misleading statements on any capital market products may be liable for an offence under the Securities and Futures Act. 

"'Finfluencers are also subject to principles of the Singapore code of advertising practice, overseen by the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS). This requires advertisements to be prepared responsibly and for statements to be made legal, decent, honest and truthful," Tan added. 

Tan shared that MAS will continue to work with ASAS to promote good practices as well as consider the sufficiency of existing safeguards. He was responding to questions in parliament about the recent suspension of withdrawals by a financial platform.

With great power comes great responsibility 

One such incident of influencers having a huge impact on a brand was on financial services firm Chocolate Finance's recent suspension of its instant withdrawal in March this year. The firm had suspended its service due to high "demand", communicated through a notice on its mobile app, where the company stated that it was experiencing an unusually high volume of withdrawal requests. Chocolate Finance's CEO, Walter de Oude, took to LinkedIn shortly after to address the matter. 

According to a report by Channel NewsAsia (CNA) at the time, Seth Wee, also known as Sethisfy, had uploaded a YouTube video the day before the suspension explaining his decision to withdraw his money from Chocolate Finance, triggering a wave of withdrawals that led to the halt in services. 

Shortly after, Wee released a statement apologising for "any undue easiness" that was caused. "It was not my intention but it has nonetheless caused some anxiousness. I affirm to do better next time," he added.

This then raised questions around the responsibility of '"finfluencers". 

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE Evangeline Leong, CEO and founder of Kobe Global Technologies, shared that while influencers' authenticity is what makes them credible, it shouldn't be "confused with being unfiltered at the expense of accuracy or fairness, especially in sensitive areas such as finance".

In cases like this, where comments may spark misinterpretation or panic—particularly regarding financial platforms—the ripple effects can be serious: not just for the brand, but also for users, investors, and even the broader ecosystem, she explained. 

"So yes, influencers do have a responsibility not to unfairly damage a brand. Criticism is fair when it’s informed, transparent, and constructive. But stoking fear without full context or facts? That can cross into negligence," she said.

Leong noted that while the influencer community has come far, incidents such as these also cast a shadow of doubt and push for stricter regulation and scrutiny of influencer-driven content. However, on the other hand, it also shows the power influencers hold to move markets

"The real influence isn’t about who is speaking—but what is believed to be authentic. And that, in itself, is a powerful shift," she said. 

According to Haresh Tilani, podcaster, content creator and co-creator of Ministry of Funny, the Yah Lah BUT Podcast, there will always be content creators that don’t feel a huge sense of responsibility. Yah Lah BUT boasts over 93,000 listeners and covers topics from news, trending topics, finance and politics. However, when it comes to areas such as financial advice, health or that could directly impact personal people's lives and livelihoods, content creators must be held to a higher standard.

“The community needs to hold themselves to a higher standard while members of the public must also recognise credible sources of news and information. Audiences need to exercise some of their own judgment there, and shouldn't just lap up everything they see online, especially from content creators who specialise in these very personal high touch areas such as health and finance,” he said.

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