The UAE’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) has stepped up its efforts to tackle misleading financial content by joining a global campaign focused on cleaning up online investment information.
As part of the International Week of Action, the CMA has joined regulators worldwide to highlight the risks posed by misleading financial content, unauthorised investment advice, and online financial scams.
As part of the initiative, the CMA has granted finfluencer authorisation to graduates of its Youth Financial Advisors Programme, run in collaboration with the Federal Youth Authority, in a move designed to strengthen the presence of credible, accountable financial voices online.
The regulator now has 171 approved financial influencers operating within its framework, with a combined audience of more than 24.6 million across social channels.
According to the CMA, participation has surged since the scheme was introduced, with authorised numbers increasing more than eighteenfold, which it said is an indication of growing buy-in to the CMA’s model for responsible financial communication.
By formalising the role of finfluencers, the CMA is attempting to bring a traditionally informal part of the financial ecosystem into clearer view. The strategy positions approved creators as extensions of the industry itself tasked not just with engagement, but with improving financial literacy and reinforcing trust.
Throughout the week-long campaign, these authorised influencers will work with the CMA to push consistent messaging around responsible investing and the dangers of misleading content, as regulators globally test new ways to respond to the evolving dynamics of digital finance.
H.E. Waleed Saeed Al Awadhi, CEO of the CMA, said: “Financial content today reaches audiences at a scale and speed that can directly influence investment decisions,
“Ensuring that this information is accurate, transparent, and responsibly communicated is essential to protecting investors.”
The initiative comes as scrutiny intensifies over the role digital platforms and content creators play in shaping investment behaviour. Regulators are increasingly concerned that poorly explained or unregulated financial content can mislead audiences, particularly younger or less experienced investors.