BUX, the European neobroker owned by ABN Amro, has been fined €1.6 million by Dutch regulators for paying finfluencers, existing customers and comparison websites for introducing new customers.
The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) levied the fine after ruling that BUX violated the inducements ban.
BUX says it stopped paying referral fees in April 2023, months before banking giant ABN Amro agreed to buy the platform. The bank was aware of the AFM probe at the time.
Amsterdam-based BUX provides hundreds of thousands of users in several European countries an investment platform featuring stocks, ETFs, and ETCs, alongside pre-built and custom investment plans.
Yorick Naeff, CEO, BUX, says: "While we respect the AFM's position, we want to emphasise that the referral fees we have paid in the past came out of our own pocket and have never been at the expense of our customers."