The Need for Suitability and Appropriateness in Crowdfunding Regulation

Download or read book The Need for Suitability and Appropriateness in Crowdfunding Regulation written by Maria Lucia Passador and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fueled by the rapid development of innovative offerings designed to meet the needs of financial institutions, the FinTech sector witnessed a sharp increase over the past few years, thus requiring a constant update of financial regulation to keep pace with the evolution of the 21st century markets. In this context, raising arm's length finance from dispersed investors thanks to crowdfunding undeniably represented one of the first and foremost complementary sources of funds for new companies which are preferred to traditional ones. In order to pursue their goals, thanks to the relevant technological improvement, funders are allowed to raise money in return for equity shares, interests, products, services, or even for the sake of donation.After sketching the major points of crowdfunding regulations - focusing primarily on the pioneering, Italian system - and after considering the rules of conduct in the field of investment services both in theory and in practice, the present piece will explore how the rules of suitability and appropriateness combine with financial regulation 2.0 and, specifically, with crowdfunding. The aim of the study is to support the conclusion that (i) crowdfunding deserves attention in light of the growing importance it assumed at the international level and in light of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive evolution in the field of investment services; (ii) although harmonization might seem bold in the current scenario, especially in light of the Report on Crowdfunding in the EU Capital Market Union, it would represent a valuable aim to be pursued by the legislator.--The topic is explored through a comparative lens -- outlining a detailed framework of the characteristics of the platforms; focusing on the Italian experience, as it was the first (at least European) country where there was a specific regulation on the topic; providing suggestions for policymakers and ideas for further research -- in :Passador, Maria Lucia, Crowdf(o)unding in context (2016), in Handbook of Global Financial Markets Transformations, Dependence, and Risk Spillovers, edited by Sabri Boubaker and Duc Khuong Nguyen, World Scientific, 2019, chapter 24, 611-645.The paper was written in 2016, and is intended to be updated to that date, as it was not possible to intervene during printing.