Nobody can accuse the financial industry of not being hip. In growing numbers, the people who manage your money have started using Twitter, blogs and other new outlets to pass out investment advice, from pitching the latest benefits of annuities to suggesting promising stock sectors. But even if those “tweets” are just 140 characters, they are turning out to be a headache to regulate.

Recently, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the industry-funded group that regulates brokers, laid out guidelines governing what brokerage and mutual fund employees can and can’t say on Twitter and other forms of social media. The group is taking many of its rules overseeing print advertisements or commercials—such as regulations prohibiting the hyping of stocks and marketing false statements on products—and applying them to social media. It’s up to the financial firms to write policies governing their own employees; if an employee breaks the rules, the firm can be held responsible. If firms are letting their employees write false claims over Facebook or in other places, “Finra will take disciplinary action if necessary,” including fines and bans, says Thomas M. Selman, Finra’s executive vice president for regulatory policy. Some firms hadn’t embraced Twitter or YouTube because the rules were unclear (although at least one CEO of a major financial firm—Robert Reynolds, of Putnam Investments—regularly used Twitter before the guidelines were issued).

But the new guidelines won’t apply to many of the country’s 300,000 financial planners and registered investment advisers. The reason: Finra regulates brokerages, fund companies and their employees. If an adviser works at a brokerage, he’s covered. But if he has his own firm, he’s not. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (groups that watch over advisers) say they have no plans to issue social media rules. Existing guidelines are sufficient, a CFP spokesperson says.

Experts say there’s nothing wrong with turning to a fund company or brokerage Web site for advice. But consider the source, says Seth Lipner, a law professor at Baruch College in New York. Even if that hot stock tip comes from a financial “pro,” investors should do their own research.

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