Funnycontrol | Kaun Banega Crorepati? Not finfluencers, says SEBI

From promising lakhs in days and crores in weeks. (Photo by The Blowup via Unsplash)

The Sensation Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came down heavily on finfluencers peddling financial products by sending them memes stating “Yeh tumhari expertise nahin hai. You are out”. It also came down heavily on regulated financial market intermediaries who were using these finfluencers to sell people the meme “2 din mein paisa double”. But unfortunately, thanks to a recent front page newspaper ad by a G20 certified, YouTube Platinum, Iodized, free-flowing, “financial advise ka namak sponsor ke swaad anusar” financial influencer, the meme “Chilla Chilla ke sabko scheme bata de” reached the ears of the sensation market regulator. She promptly cracked down on these finfluencers even while dodging a phone call from her bank’s relationship manager trying to sell her a fixed deposit so he could pay off his own home loan from the same bank.

You might wonder why memes have become the mode of currency exchange in what is otherwise a very serious business in the world of finance. But 30 June was 13 years to the day that World Social Media Day was conceptualized. And today we have reached a point where we are more likely to celebrate a day with no social media, just for a change. Every day we are bombarded with financial advice from finfluencers which is at least a pleasant change from being bombarded with stock recommendations by business news anchors and astrologers (the 2 are interchangeable).

The governor was at pains to explain that she was not against “only advice”, like how your forever single friend gives you relationship advice. Her issue is with promising crores in months and lakhs in days - a lot like how parents sell marriage as the perfect solution to all your problems including your losses in crypto. They ensure you bankrupt yourself in the wedding itself so you have nothing to lose in speculation. She said guaranteeing returns will be treated as fraudulent and misleading activity and then sent a notice to her own HR asking why she should not be prosecuted for selling her CTC as take-home salary. The HR in turn got enraged at this and is now sending a legal notice to all HR influencers.

The governor also admonished regulated entities like exchanges, brokers and mutual funds that if you are a regulated entity your partner should also be a regulated entity - a lot like how Indian parents insist you should only fall in love within the same caste, religion, socio-economic criteria and matching PH levels of your skin.

When asked about fraud by finfluencers, she retorted saying: “if you advise your uncle on where to invest we can’t catch you.” Unfortunately, my uncle can catch me at any family function and try to recover his investment in old-fashioned Indian regulator style so I think it’s best to heed her warning.

It is believed the whole industry took off during Covid and lockdowns as people sang in their homes: “Baithe baithe kya karein karne hai kuch kaam”. So influencers told err sold them: “Aap humari gutliyon ke paise kahaan se aa rahein woh kyu dekhte ho, aap bas gino aapke khayali 10 crore aam” TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HOW I CONVERTED 1 LAKH GUTLI TO 10 CRORE AAM  BUY MY SPECIAL GUARUNTEED TRADING STRATEGY COURSE (which is how I really fund my mango plantations.)  Regulator, kindly note I am only selling mangoes and not financial advice. So please do not ban Funnycontrol as in the boring world of finance, it is the only funfluencer.