Institut für Kommunikation in sozialen Medien
ikosom
ikosom was created in 2011.
ID: 960702812517-47
Lobbying Activity
Response to Legislative proposal for an EU framework on crowd and peer to peer finance
11 May 2018
We give feedback on how this proposal affects CF Ecosystems with different maturity.
Read full responseResponse to Legislative proposal for an EU framework on crowd and peer to peer finance
27 Nov 2017
The challenge for a comprehensive European framework for equity-based and lending-based Crowdfunding (option 3) is certainly that a harmonized regime could end up in two different positions, which both are undesirable:
1) “race-to-the-most-restrictive”: a Crowdfunding framework based on the most restrictive and least flexible Crowdfunding Regulatory Framework, thus eliminating any innovative approaches in some member States
2) “winner takes it all”: a Crowdfunding framework which is so flexible that local platforms have no path to compete with their scaled-up and well-funded counterparts in other countries, thus creating quasi platform monopolies across Europe.
Therefore Option 3 should be considered a long-term goal of the European Union, achievable maybe by 2025. A stand-alone opt-in framework for Cross-Border Crowdfunding (Option 4) could be more feasible within the next two to three years.
Certain elements would be ideal for the development of a European Crowdfunding Framework:
- A European Crowdfunding Platform licensing regime, supervised by EMSA or EBA, as a financial service provider in the MiFID regime, with low supervisory costs in order to reduce market entry barriers.
- A European Issuers Licensing regime, possibly linked to having established a “Societas Europaea Light” (a standardized public company which is founded with the intent to raise funds on the European level, provided there are using a licensed platform as above), with low costs of founding and operating an “SE Light” company
- A European Financial Instrument for Equity- and/or Lending-based Crowdfunding, such as a “Standardized European Loan” or “Standardized European Security”, which can only be issued on a European Crowdfunding Platform as above by an SE Light as above.
If an issuer raises funds as an SE Light on a European platform using a “Standardized European Security”, the issuer could benefit from a number of reduced requirements, such as:
- A Prospectus Light Regime for all issuances under 15 million Euro.
- A modern and innovative digital consumer protection scheme, defined on the European level.
- A clear and transparent regime regarding the taxation of profits and losses for investors, with incentives for both public and institutionalized investors to co-finance the investment.
However, in the short-term, the European Commission could help the development of the market by highlighting the self-regulation efforts of the Industry (Option 2) and researching Best Practices of Member States in supporting the Crowdfunding Ecosystem. Because of a lack of mandate, the European Commission has not identified Best Practices in fiscal incentives, but this is certainly one of the drivers of the growth of the British market. Also it would be of interest to look at the non-regulatory efforts done by several Member States, such as promoting education on Alternative Finance or developing co-finance mechanisms.
With regard to Option 1, it would help if the identification of barriers to Cross-Border Crowdfunding, which have been extensively researched in the academic literature as well as in statements by the industry, would lead to a procedure where the Member States get notified when erecting new barriers. For instance, the recent revisions of the German Crowdfunding Regulation have created new barriers in Cross-Border Crowdfunding in the field of investor communication. The European Commission certainly should monitor these developments.
In the project Crowdfundport-Project (www.crowdfundport.eu), we will create a list of recommendations for policy-makers who want to boost their national Crowdfunding Ecosystems. We look forward if these recommendations are being taken into account on the European Level as well.
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