Date: 19 February 2021

On 17 February 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, released a statement to highlight to retail investors the risks connected with trading decisions based exclusively on exchanges of views, informal recommendations and sharing of trading intentions through social networks and unregulated online platforms. The statement is issued as part of ESMA’s investor protection objective to safeguard retail investors, whose participation is key to the development of the Capital Markets Union.