€195.000 boete voor ‘finfluencer’ wegens samenwerken met illegale vermogensbeheerder Grinta Invest

For compliance teams, the case elevates influencer and affiliate marketing from a conduct issue to a core unauthorised-business and financial-promotion risk. Firms should review approval and monitoring controls for all third-party promotions, including social media, websites, affiliate links and lead-generation arrangements; ensure due diligence evidences that promoted services are authorised; and retain records of approvals and monitoring. Distribution, marketing and legal teams should define escalation paths for suspicious finfluencer activity, train staff on red flags, and consider contractual representations, indemnities and termination rights for partners.

Wealth and investment managers should also assess exposure where products or services are promoted indirectly by unaffiliated influencers. Expect heightened supervisory focus on investor protection, clear risk warnings and traceability of lead sources. Actionable steps include mapping all influencer/affiliate relationships, auditing public-facing promotions, tightening pre-approval, monitoring social channels, and documenting remediation.

The fine also creates an opportunity for authorised firms to differentiate through transparent, compliant digital marketing and to use RegTech social-media surveillance to detect unauthorised promotion early.