The National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) decided to impose a fine 5 million euros for Twitter (currently called “X”) for a persistent breach rated as very serious, by failing to comply with the duties of cooperation in relation to Financial Beach Bars advertising, … As reported by the Official Gazette (BOE) on Thursday.
According to the supervisory authority, the company violated its cooperative duties by not properly processing the requirements related to it Quantum AI advertisements.
The sanctions filing states that Twitter did not verify whether Quantum AI had obtained authorization from the CNMV to provide financial services or whether it was on a list of entities warned for operating without a license.
This lack of verification occurred despite the official request sent by the supervisory authority on November 8, 2023, as part of its procedures aimed at Protecting investors from potential fraud Or the spread of financial fraud on digital platforms.
Specifically, the body headed by Carlos San Basilio decided to impose sanctions on the new “X” for non-compliance with duties of assistance to the CNMV, which consist of checking whether Quantum AI is licensed to provide investment services and verify that they do not appear in the list of entities warned by the CNMV or by other foreign supervisory bodies, in relation to the advertisements included in the requirement sent by the CNMV on November 8, 2023.
After the concerned party waived the submission of administrative appeals, the aforementioned penalty decision became final in the aforementioned authority, without prejudice to the possibility of appealing it before the disputed administrative chamber of the National Court.
This is the seventh highest penalty imposed by the CNMV as there are public records of its penalty decisions.
Open the sanctions file
At the end of 2024, the CNMV agreed to open a sanctions file against the Twitter platform (currently called “X”) for possible non-compliance with its duties regarding content. Advertisements posted by “Financial Beach Bars” Like Quantum AI on your network.
The Supervisor of the Securities Market explained in a statement that the Executive Committee took this decision on December 13 due to the possibility of a very serious and ongoing violation – in accordance with Articles 290.1 and 290.2 of the Securities Markets and Investment Services Law – For failing in his duties to verify whether quantum artificial intelligence It is licensed to provide investment services and is listed on the list of warned entities.
All this in relation to Quantum AI’s paid ads published on the aforementioned social network in December 2023.
In this sense, the CNMV emphasized that, in context The “increasing impact” of financial fraudThe media importance of this had to be highlighted – coinciding with the publication of Quantum AI announcements on the platform
Exploits the image of public figures
In this alleged scam, Beach Bars Financial said… They capitalized on the image of Spanish public figures To publish tweets on the “X” platform simulating news in which one of these celebrities claimed to have obtained high returns using an application created by one of these entities.
Thus, in terms of the chronological order of what has happened so far, it is worth noting that at the end of November 2023 the CNMV informed several “chiringuito” websites for quantum artificial intelligence that They used an image of Antonio Resines and “El Pais”.
That month, the head of the CNMV at the time, Rodrigo Buenaventura, warned that the moderator was investigating social network “X” for allowing advertising from this type of company (specifically Quantum AI, but also other types of unauthorized companies).
Subsequently, the CNMV issued a statement in mid-December 2023 indicating this He will exercise all powers of supervision The penalties granted by the current legislation include, among other things, the liability of websites, media and social networks that publish this advertisement without verifying that the advertiser has a license to provide investment services and that it has not been warned as a financial beach bar or a piracy entity.
In that document, the Quantum AI entity was explicitly named among the companies that were committing this alleged fraud and that had already been the subject of specific warnings from the CNMV.
Warnings CNMV on “Financial Beach Bars” They can be consulted through its website, and investors can direct their inquiries to the investor service number 900535015, as well as through the inquiry form.
In addition, the CNMV website offers a search engine for warning entities and a list of tips for investors to avoid “financial beach bars.”
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