The regulator noticed an undisclosed detail: the influencer’s fee was tied to the fund’s growth, guaranteeing higher compensation as the fund expanded.
VanEck will pay a $1.75 million fine to resolve United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges linked to its 2021 launch of a social media-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The SEC imposed a civil penalty on the investment adviser. On Feb. 16, the SEC revealed in a statement that during the VanEck Social Sentiment ETF launch in March 2021, VanEck did not fully disclose the participation of a prominent social media personality in marketing the product.
The ETF aimed to follow an index using “positive insights” from social media and other data sources. However, the SEC discovered that VanEck sought to boost the fund’s success via social media and collaborated with an influential and divisive online personality to enhance its appeal.
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Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/vaneck-admits-violation-agrees-to-sec-fine-in-etf-marketing