On May 3, the European Commission (EC) published a staff working document (Report) on crowdfunding in the EU Capital Markets Union (CMU).

The Report sets out the EC’s work on crowdfunding, the current status of crowdfunding in the European Union (including business models, emerging trends and risks), the regulatory environment for crowdfunding (including authorization and investor protection) and an analysis of cross-border crowdfunding activities in the European Union. Notably, the EC highlights that crowdfunding in the European Union is “predominantly local” with member states developing tailored national regimes for crowdfunding activities. As a result, the EC feels that “no strong case” exists for EU-level intervention at present. The EC notes in the Report that it will nonetheless conduct twice-yearly meetings with EU member states, the European Supervisory Authorities and the crowdfunding sector to monitor developments.

For further information on the CMU, see the Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest editions of April 29 and October 9, 2015.

A copy of the Report can be found here.

The EC’s accompanying press release can be found here.