FINRA sanctions Avenue Securities over influencer communications including crypto promotions

What changed

FINRA censured Avenue Securities, fined it $300,000, and required remediation certification after finding that paid influencer posts were misleading or not fair and balanced, were not consistently identified as advertisements, lacked required approval and retention, and were inadequately supervised. Some posts encouraged crypto purchases without clearly explaining the risk of total loss.

Who it affects

• Broker-dealers using influencers or affiliates for social-media marketing
• Advisory affiliates sharing a brand or campaign with a broker-dealer
• Compliance teams reviewing crypto, ETF and cross-border retail communications

What is still open

• How FINRA will distinguish firm communications from affiliate or influencer content in future cases
• Whether similar campaigns will draw coordinated SEC or state scrutiny

What it means for an advisor

• Inventory paid and affiliate influencers; preapprove static content, retain communications and approvals, label advertisements, substantiate claims, balance benefits with crypto loss risk, and make supervisory ownership explicit.