FinanceTracked reports on markets that readers use to make real financial decisions. That obligation shapes the standards our writers and editors are held to. This page sets out the ethical principles governing our editorial work.

Editorial independence

Editorial decisions at FinanceTracked — what to cover, how to cover it, and what to conclude — are made by the newsroom. Advertisers, sponsors, affiliate partners, and business relationships do not influence editorial coverage or product ratings.

  • Business partners do not review, approve, or request changes to editorial content before publication.
  • The only exception is for verifiable factual errors or regulatory compliance requirements (for example, legally required disclosures on financial products). Even then, partners cannot revise editorial opinions or ratings.
  • Advertising is sold and produced separately from editorial. Sponsored articles, advertorials, and paid placements are clearly labelled.

Financial conflicts of interest

Because we cover publicly traded companies, our editorial staff are subject to conflict-of-interest rules on personal trading.

  • Writers and editors must disclose any material financial interest in a stock, sector, or company they cover, directly within the article they publish.
  • Editorial staff must not seek, receive, or trade on material non-public information. Insider trading is grounds for immediate termination and, where applicable, referral to regulators.
  • Any staff member who becomes aware of material non-public information must not publish based on it and must alert the Editor-in-Chief immediately.
  • Broad-market holdings — index funds, ETFs, and retirement accounts with no discretionary trading in covered securities — are not treated as conflicts.

Gifts, travel, and hospitality

Editorial staff do not accept gifts, meals, travel, or services of more than nominal value from companies, agencies, or public relations firms they cover or are likely to cover. The nominal-value threshold is set at approximately USD 50 (or the local currency equivalent).

  • Small branded items — a pen, a notepad, a T-shirt — are acceptable.
  • Meals at industry events, press briefings, or working lunches are acceptable where they are of ordinary value and not a substitute for editorial access.
  • Company-paid travel is not accepted. If a story requires travel, FinanceTracked pays for it.
  • Any exception — for example, attending a company event where independent travel is impractical — must be approved by the Editor-in-Chief in advance and disclosed in the resulting article.

Sourcing ethics

We prefer named, on-the-record sources. Anonymous sourcing is used only when the information is important to the public interest and cannot be obtained on the record.

  • When we use anonymous sources, we identify them as fully as possible without exposing their identity (for example, “a person familiar with the transaction” rather than “a source”).
  • We do not fabricate sources, quotes, or details. Any staff member found to have done so will be terminated.
  • We do not pay sources for information.

Fairness

  • Subjects of critical reporting are given an opportunity to respond before publication. Where we are unable to reach a subject, or a subject declines to respond, we say so in the article.
  • We avoid personal attacks on individuals we cover. Criticism is directed at conduct, decisions, and public roles, not personal characteristics.
  • We do not publish content designed primarily to damage a specific person or company’s reputation without a clear public-interest basis.

Use of AI

FinanceTracked does not publish AI-generated articles. Writers may use AI tools for narrow support tasks — transcription, spell-checking, organising research — but reporting, analysis, and writing are done by human journalists. Reviewer and editor sign-off is always a human decision.

Diversity of coverage and sources

We work to reflect the range of investors, markets, and voices in the topics we cover. Our reporting seeks sources with different backgrounds, geographies, and viewpoints — including sources from within Nigeria, across the African continent, and from international markets.

Sponsored content and affiliate links

Content produced in partnership with an advertiser is clearly labelled as sponsored, with the sponsoring brand named.

Affiliate links — links that pay FinanceTracked a commission if a reader signs up for a product — are disclosed at the article level and on our Affiliate Disclosure page.

Product rankings and ratings are not for sale. A brand cannot pay to be included in a ranking, to move up in a ranking, or to remove a competitor from a ranking.

Reporting on ourselves

When FinanceTracked, its parent company, its investors, or its staff become the subject of news, we cover them as we would any other subject and disclose the relationship in the article.

Reporting an ethics concern

If you believe FinanceTracked has acted contrary to this policy — through an undisclosed conflict, an inappropriate relationship with a source, or otherwise — please contact:

Editor-in-Chief: Omobolade Ajibade — editor@financetracked.com

All concerns are reviewed. Where a concern is substantiated, we act on it — through correction, disclosure, staffing decisions, or public accountability, as appropriate.