The Italian regulator, Consob has approved the reform of regulations on equity crowdfunding, the collection of risk capital through online portals.
The changes, introduced following two consultation stages with the market (see “Consob Informs” nos. 24/2015 and 46/2015), simplify the regulation, aiming to reduce collection costs and to broaden the range of subjects who can contribute to financing innovative business projects.
The reform is intended to lay the foundations for development of equity crowdfunding as an innovation-financing channel, as an alternative to traditional credit instruments.
One of the major changes is a simplified procedure. Appropriateness of investment tests regarding the knowledge and experience of the investor can now be carried out by the portal managers themselves, provided they have the necessary requisites. In this way, managers can take over the role that until now has been performed by banks. Furthermore, the number of subjects eligible to subscribe a portion of the offer as professional investors has been increased.
In fact, two new categories have been introduced: a) “professional investors on request”, as defined by European regulation on the provision of investment services.(MiFID); b) “investors in support of innovation”, identified by Consob based on objective criteria.
The approval resolution of the regulatory changes (Resolution No. 19520 of 24 February 2016) and the document on the outcome from consultation with the market are available on the website www.consob.it.
The changes to the resolution will come into force the day after the date of publication in the Official Journal.
The Consob statement (in Italian) and related information are available here.