The European Commission (Commission) has published an inception impact assessment for a legislative proposal for an EU framework on crowd and peer-to-peer finance.
The initiative is part of the Commission’s priority of establishing a Capital Market Union (CMU). Broadening access to finance for small and medium sized enterprises, in particular for innovative companies, start-ups and scale-ups, is at the heart of the 2015 CMU Action Plan. The initiative aims to address to main problems: (i) market fragmentation and the lack of scale; and (ii) perceived lack of reliability of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer platforms.
The impact assessment will analyse whether EU action is warranted and focus on general policy options, notably:
- option 1: baseline scenario – no EU framework;
- option 2: building on reputational capital – a self-regulatory approach with minimum EU standards;
- option 3: a comprehensive EU approach – treating crowdfunding platforms like regulated trading venues or payment institutions; and
- option 4: the cross-border solution – a standalone opt-in EU framework.
The impact assessment will also examine more specific policy options, including for the scope of the types of platforms to be covered.
The Commission indicates that the next step for this initiative will take place in Q1 2018. The deadline for comments on the impact assessment is 27 November 2017.
View European Commission inception impact assessment on legislative proposal for EU framework on crowdfunding, 30 October 2017
