Pursuant to ECSP Regulation for business, entities wishing to manage  equity-based and lending-based crowdfunding platforms in Italy must request a specific authorization.

On July 13, the EU Commission adopted the Delegated Regulation “supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards specifying requirements and arrangements for the application for authorization as a crowdfunding service provider”, together with further Delegated Regulations which regulate aspects of central importance for the operations of crowdfunding service providers, such as - among other things - the measures and procedures for the business continuity plan, the key information document on investment and conflicts of interest.

At the national level, the ECSP Regulation introduces for the first time a comprehensive discipline for lending-based crowdfunding for businesses, while replacing the national regulatory framework applicable to equity-based crowdfunding portal managers.

Crowdfunding service providers will have to comply with prudential and organizational requirements as well as with rules for the protection of investors inspired by MiFID2.

From November 11, 2023, only crowdfunding service providers that have obtained authorization under the ECSP Regulation will be able to continue to operate in Italy.

Requests for the issuance of the authorization to operate as a crowdfunding service provider pursuant to the ECSP Regulation and related Delegated Regulations must be sent to the Bank of Italy and CONSOB, which, however, will only be able to start the related evaluation process after the adoption of the legislative decree implementing the ECSP Regulation in Italy.

Pending the issuance of the implementing rules, the Bank of Italy and Consob declared their availability for informal discussions with market players, also providing clarifications and preliminary considerations on the information and documentation to be attached to the requests.

Next steps

To start an informal discussion, interested parties can fill-in a form provided by the authorities (available here in Italian only) and send it to Consob at DIN_VIN_interlocuzioni_crowdfunding@consob.it and to the Bank of Italy at RIV.AutorizzazioniCrowdfunding@bancaditalia.it.

Given the informal and preliminary nature of the discussions, operators will be able to submit a formal application for authorization only after the regulatory framework is complete.