What are the legal implications of having financial advice on a web page? I have seen other sites that do this that have a small disclamer at the bottom of the page. Is this all I would need? Thanks Matt
You can be sued, especially if you are not a professional. Even so, you can be sued. A small microscopic disclaimer will not save you. It needs to be large enough to read and in the sight of the view. For example, if you watch a stock ticker on TV, they will put a disclaimer every so often as the ticker itself. Financial shows will put disclaimers up on the screen. You can't miss them. My advice is to have a disclaimer on the top of each page--right before your content. Make sure your disclaimer is complete and that your content doesn't say anything that contradicts it.
Thanks for the reply. I find this advice unique as many of the big financial info sites like yahoo finace, morningstar.com, and thestreet.com don't have these large visable disclamers on the top of each page like you suggest.
I don't know that it needs to be LARGE. Just in a place that normal person would see it and a size that's readable to the average person. Also in the financial world, there's a difference between reporting facts, like stock prices and giving actual advice (what stocks to buy, how to invest, etc). The other thing to realize is that you aren't yahoo or any other big player out there. It's prudent to protect yourself a little further--unless you have a good legal department working for you.